I'm In Love With A Modern Day Pirate
by AshleyBudrick
Summary: On a fateful night, Elizabeth Swann is kidnapped by modern day pirates. Her hatred for her captor Will Turner, is soon changed to love and she is willing to throw everything away just to be with him, a course that will change their lives forever.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm In Love With a Modern Day Pirate**

**Chapter 1**

Elizabeth Swann sighed, crumpled up a piece of paper and tossed it to the floor, where it was accompanied by several other paper balls thrown there before it. She turned up the volume on her iPod nano, and hunched over her desk and began writing, only to screw up a few paragraphs later. She let out a small cry, ripped her earphones from her ears and threw the pen down on the desk.

"Damn these writing assessments," she muttered under her breath, "I should have paid more attention in class instead of text messaging James."

Even though she was only seventeen, Elizabeth had quite the life. Her father was the mayor of the small, seaside town she lived in. She attended the best school in the town, and the school, compared to the rest of the town, was half decent. However, the teachers sure knew how to pile homework on the students.

The assessment she was doing, was for History class, and after she finished the miserable thing she still had to read twelve pages from her Science textbook, do two sheets for her Advanced Math class, and get her father to sign the French test she miserably failed on.

At the moment, she doubted she'd finish the assessment. The assessment was on pirates from the Caribbean. Not that Elizabeth didn't find the subject intresting; she just didn't pay as much attention as she should have to the lectures. James Norrington, who was a grade ahead of her, always liked to text message her in class, and didn't seem to mind the fact that both of their grades were suffering because of it.

James, or "Norry" as he was commonly nicknamed, was the type of guy in school that either everyone wanted to be or be with. And guess what? He liked Elizabeth. She knew it, and so did everyone else in the bloody high school. Mostly all the girls loathed her for the fact, and that put even more pressure on her.

Elizabeth didn't call herself popular, but she had a small circle of friends that she relied on, and a huge circle of girls whose mission was to drive her out of town. Not literally, of course, but that was probably what they wanted to happen. Elizabeth often wished they would lighten up. It wasn't her fault that James liked her.

"Pirates, pirates, pirates…" Elizabeth muttered under her breath, shutting off her iPod nano and slipping it into her jeans pocket, "What do I know about pirates…" She shuffled through the papers on her desk, and a few of them slid off the desk onto the floor. Cursing under her breath, she didn't even to bother to pick them up and went to digging through her backpack instead. Her math textbook, her science text book, her French dictionary, dammit, she must have left the history textbook in her locker!!

She groaned, and pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. It blinked, telling her she had a text message, and it was from James. She opened it, and it said, "Liz! Doing anything 2nite? Need 2 talk 2 u. Meet me at the wtrfrnt at 6. James."

Elizabeth sighed. Why couldn't he just call her and talk that way. She glanced at her watch. It was 4:35 already. There was no way she could complete everything she had to do by six… unless she worked really hard.

She dialed her friend, Anamaria's number. Anamaria picked up on the third ring.

"Hey Lizzie whats up?" Anamaria asked, sounding somewhat tired.

"Ana, tell me what you know about pirates," Elizabeth sighed, fiddling with her pen. Her friend laughed.

"You weren't paying attention _again_? You know you have to stop talking to your boyfriend all the time…"

"He's not my boyfriend, Ana!" Elizabeth snapped, "You know that."

"I'm just joking with you," Anamaria replied, "How is James anyway?"

"He just sent me a message on my cell telling me to meet him at the waterfront at six," Elizabeth replied, "I have so much homework to do I don't think I'll make it."  
"But you have to go!!" Anamaria exclaimed, "I mean he's probably planning to make out with you."

"Ew," retorted Elizabeth, twirling a piece of her dark blonde hair around her finger, "He said he wanted to talk with me."

"Mhm, and that's what they all say. Just you wait, Lizzie. You're in for quite the time."  
"Whatever," Elizabeth muttered, ignoring her warm cheeks, "Anyway I didn't call you to talk about James. What do you know about pirates?"

"Well I can't tell you everything, but I can give you the basics," Anamaria said, "Because I passed in my assessment yesterday… well… I still have my notes. Ok, the golden age of Piracy in the Caribbean went from 1660 to 1760… The most notorious pirate was… hey Lizzie you writing this down?"

"Oh!" Elizabeth snapped out of a daze. She grabbed a pen and a piece of blank paper, "Yeah."

After she finished writing down the information, she tossed her pen aside.

"I think it'd be easier if I could just ask a pirate," Elizabeth joked.

"Now I really know you weren't paying attention," Anamaria sighed, "Pirates are dead. There's no more pirates, unless you count the modern day ones."

"Modern day ones?" Elizabeth sat up straight, intrigued, "There are still pirates?"

"Well they're not the swashbuckling, one eyed, one legged pirates with pet parrots," Anamaria explained, "I was bored and looked it up on the net a while ago. Well of course you got your pirates that download movies, music and such…"

"Like me," Elizabeth whispered, and the both of them laughed.

"And there's the closest thing to real pirates," Anamaria continued, "They sail around and hijack ships… most commonly they are found in India and such… they normally are armed with machine guns … totally different from the Caribbean pirates that's for sure… but even now there aren't many of those. Pirates are as good as dead in this century."  
"Are there any pirates around here?" Elizabeth asked.

"Don't be stupid," Anamaria snorted, "No way. Like I said, they're really rare, and most of them wind up dead or arrested."

"Maybe I could track down one of those kinda pirates and interview them," Elizabeth said sarcastically.

"Hey, I helped you out the best I can. Maybe you can ask James when you go see him tonight," Anamaria joked.

Elizabeth groaned and rolled her eyes.

----

When Elizabeth got off the phone with Anamaria, out of curiosity she went on her computer and searched up modern day pirates. She clicked the first result from Wikipedia, and it read:

"_Modern pirates favor small boats and taking advantage of the small crew numbers on modern cargo vessels. Modern pirates prey on cargo ships which must slow their speed to navigate narrow straits, making them vulnerable to be overtaken and boarded by small motorboats. Small ships are also capable of disguising themselves as fishing vessels or cargo vessels when not carrying out piracy in order to avoid or deceive inspectors."_

She skimmed down the page, somewhat intrigued, and came across a part that was especially intriguing.

"_In most cases, modern pirates are not interested in the cargo and are mainly interested in taking the personal belongings of the crew and the contents of the ship's safe, which might contain large amounts of cash needed for payroll and port fees. In some cases, the pirates force the crew off the ship and then sail it to a port to be repainted and given a new identity through false papers."_

She shivered. Anamaria said they didn't have one eye and peg legs and pet parrots, but modern day pirates seemed to be after relatively the same thing that the 18th century pirates had been after. The part about the pirates sailing the ship onto the port, made her really interested. Her town had a small port, so possibly there was a risk of pirates!

Cool, she thought. She closed out the window and went on to searching about the pirates she needed to learn about.

_----_

Elizabeth sighed as she finished filling in the last math question on the sheet. She filled in her name at the top right hand corner and set it with the other sheet. She looked at her finished homework with pride. She finally had finished it, except for the twelve pages from her science textbook, which she could read anytime. The Pirate assessment was pretty half-arsed, only supplied with the basic information from Anamaria and the Google search engine, but she didn't care. It was done, at least.

She glanced at her watch, it read 5:40… hey, she didn't take that long to finish everything. She withdrew her French test from her binder and scowled at the 45 marked on the front in red pen.

"I can show Dad this later," She shoved it back in her binder and left her bedroom and walked down the stairs to the hallway. She just had enough time to get to the waterfront, she shivered. As she pulled on her black converse, she heard her father, Weatherby Swann, from the living room.

"Where are you going, Elizabeth?" He asked.

"To see James," Elizabeth replied, suddenly feeling unsure.

"James Norrington?" Weatherby asked, "What a nice young man he is. Is your homework done?"

"Yes, Dad," She replied, rolling her eyes and shrugging on her baby pink sweater.

"Can you come in here for a moment?" He asked.

Elizabeth walked into the living room and over to her father who was sitting on the sofa watching the News. He dug in his wallet and held out twenty five dollars out to her.

"If you're going to be long, buy yourself something to eat," He smiled slightly.

"Thanks!!" She took the money from him and gave him a hug, "I'll be back around 8:00."

She ran out of the living room and ran out into the front lawn, closing the door behind her. The evening air was beginning to get a bit chilly, but she set out, hurrying down the small lane she lived on, that was overshadowed by huge oak trees. As she cut across the main street, she could smell the sea mixed with burgers and French fries from the nearby McDonalds restaurant.

As much as she wanted to go right in and buy a Big Mac, she'd wait until she was on her way home, so she could pick up something for her father as well.

She reached the old road that went along the waterfront, she saw James sitting on a bench under a streetlight on the dock. When she stepped onto the wooden planks, James saw her and he smiled.

"Hey I didn't think you'd come!" James said as she sat down beside him on the bench.

"I almost didn't," Elizabeth replied, "I was buried up to my neck in homework."

As much as she had talked to James before, she still felt awkward around him. She almost felt as if she wasn't good enough to be sitting on a bench beside James Norrington. After all, he was just about the most sought after guy in the entire high school.

"Homework," James laughed, "Don't worry, two more years of it and then you can leave this town, like I am. I'm planning to join the Navy… what's your plans?"

"I'm… not sure," The realization that college was so near hit Elizabeth like a ton of bricks, "I guess… I haven't really thought much about it."

"Don't fret," James assured her, "You still have plenty of time to think."

"Yeah, I suppose," Elizabeth answered, feeling slightly embarrassed when James put his arm around her, "James?"

"Yeah?" he asked, not moving his arm.

"What was it that you needed to talk to me about?" Elizabeth asked, "You said in your text message… hey, if you just said that to get me here…"

"No, actually," James smirked, "Smart thinking however. If it was any other night you would have been right, since I don't get to see you enough. In this case, however it's different."

"How do you mean?" Elizabeth asked unsurely.

"Let's just put it this way," James laughed slightly, "All those other girls at school will be extremely jealous of you."

"They are _already_," Elizabeth sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She was beginning to get a little impatient with him. Just get to the point and stop with the hints.

"Elizabeth…" James looked her right in the eyes, "You must know already that I'm quite fond of you. In fact… I'm in love with you. And you must find it hard to imagine someone of my high standing in that school, that I haven't found the right girlfriend…" There was a slight pause, and Elizabeth's heart was beating about a thousand miles per hour. After a few seconds that seemed like minutes, James smiled and continued.

"This moment, I think I've found the right girlfriend. You."

Elizabeth's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth in shock.

"Me?" She cried, "But… I'm…"

She was cut off when James leaned in and kissed her. Immediately Elizabeth was frozen. She had never been kissed before. The kiss was gentle, yet passionate at the same time. That moment she was living just about every girls dream in her high school. To be kissed for the very first time, by James Norrington!

After a few minutes, James finally pulled back, but he still held her close.

"Elizabeth, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked softly.

Elizabeth couldn't do anything else but nod. She was in a total state of shock.

"Great," James stood up and held out his hand. Numbly, Elizabeth took it. They started walking along the waterfront. Since the time of year, it was dark and they couldn't really see anything except for the provided light from one of the few street lamps.

Elizabeth's mind was spinning as they trudged along hand in hand. She was now going out with James! Everything seemed foggy like a dream, but she knew it wasn't a dream. It was too good to be true, but true it was.

She stopped and looked out at the black harbor when she heard roaring of a boat engine. She saw the headlights of a rather large boat speeding towards the dock.

"What idiot goes ripping through the water at this time of night?" James asked rhetorically, shaking his head. Elizabeth felt a weird chill run down her spine and she squeezed his hand without thinking.

They watched as the large boat docked at a pier ahead of them. They were loud and rowdy as they tossed the mooring line out of the boat. One man jumped out and tied it to the dock.

Another man jumped out after him, but Elizabeth and James couldn't see them clearly. One man that was aboard yelled,

"Get what you need to get and let's get the hell outa here!"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up!" One of the two men replied.

Elizabeth looked at James as the two men began walking towards them. James pulled her closer to him, for they looked suspicious.

As the two men stepped into a streetlight, they got a good look at their features. One man was tanned and his dark brown hair was put into dreadlocks and he had a red bandana on his head. He was tall and wore a stained white t-shirt and baggy jeans. The second man behind him was younger, and he had curly brown hair down to his neck, and he also wore a bandana, instead his was green in color. He had an earring and was a bit taller than the first man, and he wore a grey muscle shirt and jean shorts.

Elizabeth felt her heart skip a beat when he and the first man looked at them as they trudged on by. The first man with the dreadlocks smirked and the second man winked at her.

"Evening," he said, also smiling.

Elizabeth didn't do anything and she and James watched as they went by. She looked up at James and saw he had a look of caution on his face.

"Who were those men?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know," James replied, "But I think we should leave. I didn't like the way they looked at you."

He put his arm around her and they started back in the direction they came. Elizabeth was confused, and her mind was whirring. Who were those men? What were they doing here in her town? Where did they come from?

James stopped at a small building that was the washrooms.

"Will you be alright out here?" James asked.

"Yes," Elizabeth answered, and he smiled slightly and went into the building. Elizabeth went to a nearby bench and sat down, hugging herself. She could see that boat off in the distance, and there were loud voices echoing down from it.

A minute passed, and suddenly the quiet air was interrupted when she heard gunshots. Immediately she became terrified, and looked around. Suddenly, she heard running footsteps from behind her and saw for only and instant those two men from before, one with his arms full of supplies, and the other with a gun. Then, her vision was cut off when someone whipped a bandana around her eyes. She screamed, as she felt it being tied around her head.

Elizabeth was hauled up off the bench and a gun was pressed to her head. She froze in fear, and she heard a young man's voice, the same one that said good evening to her. It was a slight British accent.

"Come on!!"

She was dragged down the dock blindly. She had no idea were she was going.

She heard laughter, and then James voice calling her name. She screamed when she was picked up and taken into what she guessed was the boat. Gunshots, yelling, James' voice. Then she felt a small prick in her leg and everything faded.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

James came out from behind the bench he had hid behind to avoid the flying bullets. He ran out onto the empty dock, as he watched the boat speed away and the last of the gun shots faded into the night.

For a moment, he couldn't do anything. The only sounds were the waves lapping against the wooden posts, the distant sound of the boat's engine, and his frantic breathing.

"Elizabeth," he whispered, the reality sinking in. Those men took Elizabeth. He turned around and ran off, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He heard the sounds of sirens nearing closer. He ran onto the street, and he saw black car pull up across the street and Elizabeth's father get out. He began walking over to meet the police cars that were coming down the street.

"Mr. Swann!!" James yelled frantically, sprinting across the street to Elizabeth's father.

"James Norrington!" Mr. Swann said, "I'm a little bit busy right now…" he trailed off when he realized Elizabeth wasn't with James, "Where's my daughter?"

"They took her," James cried, shaking his head.

"What?" Mr. Swann demanded, "Who took her?"

"These men, Elizabeth and I… we saw them walk past… the gunshots…. I turned my back for just one second… and next thing I knew… they took Elizabeth!" James stammered, covering his face with his hands, "Oh God… Elizabeth…"

A policeman joined up with them, and it took a moment before Mr. Swann could speak.

"They took my daughter," He told the policeman, "Elizabeth Swann…"

"Please stay calm," The officer said, "Do you know where they went?"

Mr. Swann shook his head, but James answered:

"They took her away… in a boat. I tried to stop them but they shot at me."

The officer nodded and turned to Mr. Swann.

"According to the shop owner, two men came out of nowhere, he hadn't seen them before in this town," The officer explained, "You know how it is here, everybody practically knows everybody. The owner said he became cautious, but apparently one of the men whipped out a gun and threatened to kill him while the other grabbed supplies." The officer turned to James, "Did you get a good look at the men?"

"Yes," James nodded numbly.

"Well I'm going to need you to come to the station with us," The police officer told him, "So we can question you properly."

"What about my daughter?" Mr. Swann demanded.

"We'll send a boat out after them," The officer directed, "And I'll notify the police in the nearby communities. Chances are the men will try the same thing in another town. Let us do the work, Mr. Swann. I suggest that you go home and get some rest."

"I won't be able to rest," Mr. Swann answered, but he turned and walked back to his car, somewhat in a dazed state. James shook his head, running his fingers through his brown hair.

"I don't believe this," he muttered.

------

Elizabeth awoke to darkness, and felt soft fabric against her eyes. As she took in shaky breaths, the darkness and her unable to move sent her into a state of disorientation and panic. Her throat was dry, and her hands were bound. Her feet were free, but her limbs felt heavy and it was almost as if she had no feeling. It was obvious she was lying on the floor… and she heard a low buzzing sound… and she felt the rocking. She was rocking, a slow steady rocking back and forth… a boat.

Letting out a little whimper, she tried to roll on her side, but was overwhelmed with nausea and she threw up. She was still retching when she heard footsteps coming nearer. She coughed, her body still shaking from the sudden bout of sickness.

"You finally woke up," she heard a man's voice, that same British accent she'd heard before.

She tensed up, moving her head in the direction of the voice, and tried to speak, but was overwhelmed with nausea and gagged, but had no more energy to throw up and she just lay motionless except for her shaking.

There was silence for a moment, but the footsteps grew closer and she felt someone take her head by the chin.

"Not feeling well?" The man asked, "I apologize for that. It was Jack who shot you full of those drugs."

The bandana was tugged from her eyes and she realized she was in an already dark environment. She saw the man's sandals, and slowly she moved her head up to look at his face.

Her memory came back to her when she saw him. It was that young man with the wavy brown hair, which now was pulled back in a pony tail at the nape of his neck. It was the one who blindfolded her.

For a moment, she was struck by his features. He was young with quite the handsome face, but she weakly managed to say:

"Who are you?"

"The name is Will Turner," He replied, smirking slightly, brushing a stray piece of hair away from her face. He took out a cigar from his pocket and lit it up, and took a long puff on it before exhaling.

Elizabeth felt tears coming to her eyes. She had no idea whatsoever what was going on. She tried to speak, but lowered her head to hide the fact that she started to cry.

"You must be wondering where the hell you are, am I right?" she heard Will say. She mustered a nod, and he continued, "Well, you're in a cabin on a boat. This boat is half mine, half Jack's. We pirated it just a couple of days ago."

Elizabeth looked up at him with blurry eyes.

"Pirated?" she echoed, her breath hitching.

"I knew that would catch your attention," Will took her by the shoulders, "Sit up already," he leaned her up against a bed, and took one look at her shaking limbs, "Damn Jack," he muttered, and turned away from her and yelled, "Jack!"

"Hm?" came a reply, and the tanned man with dreadlocks came walking into the room, "Ah, she's awake."

The man, who was Jack, had a hint of a British accent as well.

"What did you shoot her up with?" Will demanded, showing signs of impatience.

"A lil' concoction of my own," Jack scoffed, "Why?"

"She's about as shaky as the Jolly Roger," Will responded, "I doubt it if she could stand on her own right now."

"It knocked her out, din' it?" Jack leaned against the door frame, "And don't get mad at me, Turner. You were the one who grabbed her in the first place… what was the point of that anyway??"

"Pirates make use of everything," Will responded.

"Pirates?" Elizabeth cried, utterly bewildered. Was she hearing correctly? However, both of them basically ignored her as if she hadn't said anything.

Jack walked past Will and kneeled down beside her. She looked at him for a moment. He wasn't ugly, that was for certain. In fact, he was quite handsome, with dark brown eyes, unique jaw line and a perfect nose, but she couldn't get past the fact that what he truly was. A pirate… or so Will had said.

How odd it was, she had been talking to Anamaria just earlier about modern day pirates, and now, she had been taken hostage by them…

She jumped when Jack reached over and dug in the pockets of her sweater and pulled out her iPod nano.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, feeling a lump in her throat.

Turning it over in his hands, Jack raised his eyebrows.

"It's pink…" he looked disappointed, "But I've always wanted one of these."

"That's mine! You can't steal it!" Elizabeth cried, her anger growing with each passing second. He was messing with her.

"Not anymore," Jack grinned at her, tucking the iPod into his pants pocket.

She stared at him, completely horrified. She heard of pit pockets but this put a literal and ridiclious meaning to the word. Her iPod that she had saved up for with her own money was now in the hands of some pirate. Damn him, she couldn't do a thing about it either, with her bound hands and the drugs in her system. Stealing from her when she was in such a situation was just about comparable to stealing an elderly woman's purse.

Jack seemed amused at the look on her face, for he chuckled. Elizabeth glanced over at Will, who had gotten to his feet and was looking in a fridge across the room. She watched as he pulled out a bottle of some alcoholic drink and took a swig.

"Got anything else for me, love?" Jack asked.

She was distracted when Jack reached in her jeans pocket. The money… damn it all. She tried to kick him, but her leg wouldn't obey and he pulled out the bills her father had given her.

The sight of the money seemed to give Jack an idea, for his eyes lighted up as he folded the bills over and turned to face Will and laughed.

"Don't steal her money," Will sighed, "For god sakes, Jack. We have more money than she'll ever see in a lifetime… you still have that money from that tourist ship we held up a couple months back?"

"Nah," Jack waved his hand, "Lost a gamble to some ol' bugger down in the Bahamas. I need some cash."

"Well stealing lunch money from school girls won't get you anywhere fast," Will scoffed, taking another drink from the bottle.

"How old are you?" Jack snapped, turning to Elizabeth.

"Seventeen," She hesitated, not sure if she should have told the truth or not.

"Seventeen," Jack echoed, nodding his head, "We can easily get a small fortune off this girl in a brothel down South… she's pretty, slim…"

"No!!" Elizabeth shouted, causing both of them to jump in surprise. Will nearly dropped the bottle on the floor.

"Will, get the hell out of my rum," Jack snarled, and he turned to Elizabeth and took her face in his hand, "Give me a good reason why we shouldn't, love?"

"I am not a prostitute," Elizabeth spat coldly, "And I do not plan to become one."

"Well you're pretty useless to me," Jack snapped back.

"Then take me back," she suggested, glaring at him.

Jack laughed mockingly at her.

"Take you back?" He mused, "You honestly think I would turn around and take you back? Wow, that's funny."

Jack looked over and still saw Will in the rum bottle.

"Dammit Will, I told you already," Jack growled.

"At least I'm not some alcoholic," Will huffed under his breath.

"Wus that ye just said, Will?" Jack raised his voice, "Bad mouthin' me? Cause I got at least one shot left in this gun that I can put your name on, savvy?" Jack lifted up his shirt a little to show the hand gun tucked in his belt.

"You know, right now I don't give a damn, Jack," Will looked over his shoulder, "Why don't you just…"

"Where's James?" Elizabeth interrupted, the sight of Jack's gun bringing back a vague recollection of hearing James calling to her and the gunshots that followed before she was drugged.

"James?" Will asked, but Jack cut him off.

"Obviously the lad she was wiv, you idiot," Jack snapped, "Oh we left him on the dock."

When Jack saw the horror on Elizabeth's face, he continued:

"We only used the shots to scare him off," Jack laughed at this, "And he ran, too, eh Will?"

"Whatever Jack," Will snapped.

"Somebody's pissed," Jack raised his eyebrow, and he looked at Elizabeth, "Wus your name anyway?"

"Elizabeth…" She answered, looking down at the floor.

"Can I call you Lizzy?" Jack laughed, "No wait, I don't care what you say. I'm calling you Lizzy. Lizzy, make Will happy, give 'im a lil' kiss."

"Never," Elizabeth shot back, her eyes daggers.

"Fiesty," Jack grinned, ignoring Elizabeth's death glare, "I like that… and I'm sure lots of men too. Where you're going, you'll be sure to bring in a lot of business."

"Where am I going?" Elizabeth asked nervously, looking over at Will and then back into Jack's eyes.

"Tortuga," Jack smiled.

"Tortuga?" Elizabeth repeated, the name ringing a bell. Tortuga, she had learned about it in school. In the 18th century Tortuga was a pirate port, out of the jurisdiction of the East India Trading Company, so the pirates were free of any threats. It was full of taverns and brothels, and pirates from all over flocked to Tortuga for rum, trading, supplies and the prostitutes… but Tortuga was no longer what it used to be 300 years ago… or so she thought.

Jack laughed at her expression.

"I know what you're thinkin', Lizzy," Jack grinned, "Tortuga is just an island… your wrong. We've kind of done a nice job of making it take on a bit of its old glory… just minus the pirate ships, of course."

"You're insane," Elizabeth spat, "Grow up and realize that pirates aren't real anymore!!"

"Actually, I hate to break it to you," Will spoke up, "We are real."

"And we aren't like rare species of animals that are only seen once in a couple of years," Jack smiled, "There are a lot of us. Kinda shows how much the world is aware of doesn't it?"

"It's pointless," Elizabeth replied.

"Oh… it's so pointless," Jack mocked her, "You'll see soon enough how pointless it is, Lizzy. I'll be sure to visit you once and a while in your little brothel."

He laughed, and stood up. Elizabeth panicked.

"No…" She cried, "You can't do this to me…"

"We're already halfway to the Caribbean," Jack headed towards the door. He motioned to Will to come along with him, "I will do what I please."

He stalked out of the room, and Will followed. The door closed and Elizabeth tried to calm herself down, but it was useless and she dissolved into tears. Never before had she felt so helpless.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

James sat in the chair in the police office. The chief of police was in talking to Elizabeth's father, and James was alone. The reality was hitting him now, hard. Men had actually come and taken Elizabeth away.

Now that he had the status of her boyfriend, he felt that he had to do something. Sitting in the chair, he felt useless. He had to help Elizabeth in some way. He feared what was happening to her right that moment.

What were those two men's plans? Why did they take her? Questions such as those whirred around in his brain. The answers to those questions were endless… and none of them were probably good.

The door opened, and James looked up. The chief of police, a tall lanky man, who didn't really fit the typical stereotype of a "police chief", motioned for him to come in. James sighed and got to his feet and walked into his office.

"Mr. Norrington," The Chief smiled and gestured to an empty chair next to Mr. Swann, "Please take a seat."

James did, and he looked over to Mr. Swann. He was rubbing his temples and looking at the floor. A stressful expression of worry was painted on his face.

The Chief took a seat at his desk, and looked at James.

"So, as I understand," he declared, "You were the only witness to Ms. Swann's kidnapping?"  
"Yes," James nodded, twiddling with his thumbs.

"Well, you are going to be our best friend throughout this case," The chief smiled slightly, "We will rely on you to tell us every detail. Now, can you tell me first what happened?"

"I told Elizabeth to meet me down by the harbor," James swallowed the lump in his throat, "As of tonight, we are in a relationship, and that's why I wanted to ask her to meet me."

The chief nodded in response and jotted down some notes on a piece of paper.

James continued, "We decided to take a walk along the water front, and it wasn't long until we heard a boat engine, and ahead of us, we saw this large boat, it was like a yacht practically, pull up. Two men jumped out, and they walked on past us. I noticed they gave Elizabeth a strange look…"

"Could you describe their appearances for me?" The chief asked.

"Of course," James answered, "The first man, was tanned, and he had dark brown hair in dread locks… he wore a red bandana on his head. He had a moustache and a goatee… with two little braids with beads in them. He was fairly tall; he wore a stained white t-shirt and a pair of old baggy jeans. He looked like he was from the Caribbean or something… I'm not sure."

The chief nodded.

"And the other man, he looked younger than the first guy. He wasn't really tanned at all. He had shoulder length wavy brown hair in a pony tail, and he also wore a bandana. He had hardly any facial hair, but it was close to a goatee… I suppose. He was slightly taller than the first man… and he wore a grey muscle shirt and jean shorts..."

"Ok," the chief finished jotting down his notes and set the pen down. He folded his hands and leaned forward, looking at Mr. Swann and James, "As you both probably realize, when there is a kidnapping like this, time is a valuable thing, and Ms. Swann's life may depend on it. I will notify all the coastal towns and the city of Miami. Our guess is that these men are heading south, to try and escape American waters. I don't mean to scare you but these men's intentions with this young woman aren't probably good. I'm talking about anything from selling her for money to rape or murder, so we have to work fast to try and locate them."

James looked over at Elizabeth's father, and saw him nod numbly at the chief's words. He seemed to be in a state of shock over this, and there was nothing he could really do.

"I could do something," James spoke up, causing the chief to look up at him.

"You have done quite a lot already," the chief smiled, "You gave us descriptions of these criminals."

"No, I mean I could go with your officers… out on the water," James insisted.

"You're a civilian, Mr. Norrington," He answered sternly, "As much as you probably want to help, you have done all you can do."

"But I can't just sit here!" James pushed back the chair and got to his feet, "I can't! I should have kept a better watch on Elizabeth, and now she's been kidnapped! For all I know they could have hurt her by now! I won't be able to rest until I find her!"

James sighed, and looked about the room before meeting the chief's eyes. He was looking at him, in deep thought.

"Please," James pleaded, "Let me help."

The chief sighed, "How old are you?"

"Eighteen," James replied, "Legally, I'm an adult. I will take full responsibility for myself… if anything happens to me it won't be your fault… I'll go by the rules… I'll do whatever you tell me to."

"Fine."

-----

Elizabeth sat on the floor for a long time, all alone. By now she was used to the steady rocking of the boat. The smell from her vomit was beginning to get to her. She wished someone would clean it up.

No wait, that wouldn't happen. She wasn't in school where janitors cleaned things up for everyone; she was on a boat, in the Atlantic Ocean somewhere, kidnapped by some criminals who had their heads stuck back into the clouds of the 17th and 18th centuries, during the prime age of piracy.

It was ridiclious. Pirates in this era? How coincidental was that, she happened to find the subject of piracy in history class extremely boring and she just happened to be kidnapped by pirates!

She was angry, fearful, and confused. The skin on her left arm was red and welted from where she had constantly been pinching herself. Please, let it be a dream. She wasn't going out with James, and she wasn't kidnapped by pirates… please, let her be woken up by Anamaria, when she had fallen asleep in History on page 119 of her textbook.

Elizabeth took her skin and pinched it together, squeezing harder and harder until she drew blood. She let out a frustrated scream and looked at her arm.

"It has to be a dream!!" Elizabeth cried, grabbing handfuls of her long hair and shaking her head, "Please! I want to wake up! I want to be home!!!!!"

It did no good. It wasn't a dream. She was here. She was awake. _This was really happening._

Elizabeth struggled with her wobbly feet, trying as hard as possible to make them obey. Move. Move. Move, goddammit! She tried desperately, and made a lunge towards a couch that wasn't far way. She grabbed onto the couch arm, and pulled herself up onto her knees, groaning as pain shot through her legs. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I have to get up," she whispered to herself. What she would do next if she managed to stand was the question. The door was probably locked. If it wasn't, what would she do? Jump overboard? Land probably wasn't even close, she would drown or Jack would just shoot her.

Elizabeth released her grip on the arm of the couch and she slid down onto the floor like a snake, her strong emotions shaking her body.

"James," she sobbed, "I wish you were here…"

She heard a key in the door (it had been locked after all!), and it opened. She looked up and saw Will walk into the room. A half smoked cigar was hanging from his mouth, and his bandana was down around his neck.

"Jack told me to check on you," Will said softly, "We heard you screaming down here. What's wrong?"

Elizabeth stared at him. He used such a calm voice, everything about him was calm. Yet, he asked a stupid question as to why she was screaming. What was wrong? What was wrong? Was he born yesterday?

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth cried, "I'm in the middle of the ocean, taken from my family and my boyfriend by a bunch of pirate-wannabes and you're asking me what's wrong?"  
"I'm sorry," Will smirked, "I suppose that was a stupid question."

He snuffed out his cigar in an ash tray that lay on a small table. His brown eyes met her own and he walked over to her and kneeled down.

"I can probably make a good guess that you want off the floor?" Will asked, his smoky breath hitting her face. She held back a cough and nodded.

Will slipped one arm underneath her legs and one around her shoulders and picked her up with ease. He grinned down at her.

"Now what one will it be? The bed? Or the couch?"

"The couch," Elizabeth replied quickly, stiffening. She realized that his intentions might not be so innocent.

Will turned and gently set her down onto the soft pillows of the couch. He flopped down beside her, a quirky smile on his face.

"Don't worry I don't have any intentions that you're probably thinking," Will patted her leg, "I may be a pirate, but I haven't committed that crime. Neither has Jack, so you can sleep tight with no worries."

"I have a boyfriend, Mr. Turner," Elizabeth said, "I have a father, I have friends… I don't want to go to work in a brothel for your own pathetic self gain."

"Call me Will," he snapped, seeming to ignore the rest of her words, "Mr. Turner makes me sound old, I'm far from being old… oh! Jack told me to give you something to eat or drink," Will got to his feet and walked over to the little kitchenette, "We're not all that bad. What can I get you?"

Elizabeth was going to say that she wasn't hungry, but that would be a lie. She was starving, she hadn't eaten anything since she had come home from school that day… or next day, she didn't know what day it was.

"Anything," Elizabeth answered.

"A'right," Will took out two glasses from the cupboard, and opened the fridge.

"Will," she said before she could think twice. She shouldn't be calling her kidnapper by their name.

"Hm?"

"What… day is it?" Elizabeth asked, watching him as he poured some type of liquid into the two glasses.

"Not much time has passed," Will assured her, "Just a few hours. It's Saturday… 10:30 am."

Will walked over to her and handed a glass to her. Elizabeth took it with both hands and looked down at the golden colored drink.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked, taking a whiff of it and coiling back in disgust.

"Rum," Will answered, taking a drink, "Don't you like it?"

"I'm not old enough to drink," Elizabeth looked at him, "Besides; I said I was hungry… not wanting some alcohol."

"Actually," Will raised his eyebrows, "You said you'd have anything. There's your anything."

Elizabeth put the glass to her lips, but she could barely get past the smell. She closed her eyes and tipped the glass. The worst taste filled her mouth and she coughed, fighting back the urge to gag.

The door opened and Jack came walking in. He looked at the rum that Will had, and the next thing it was knocked out of his hand and it smashed on the floor. Elizabeth jumped, staring at Jack and Will.

"I told you once," Jack snapped, "That rum is mine."

Will looked enraged, but he didn't say anything. For the longest moment they stared at each other, until Jack turned and looked over his shoulder at Elizabeth. He saw the rum in her hand and snatched it from her, giving her a whack upside the head. She let out a surprised gasp and cowered away from him.

"Jack!" Will cried, stepping forward, "Don't hit her!"

"You gave her my rum too?" Jack demanded, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What the hell is wrong with _you_?" Will snapped back, "You got some bloody problem, Jack, and I'm not sure what it is but you better fix it."

Jack whipped out his gun and shoved Will up against the wall, pressing the barrel against his temple.

"I don't have a problem, William," Jack said lowly, "I would hate to kill you."

Will narrowed his eyes, staring at Jack challengingly. He knew better than to say anything, for he had seen Jack shoot one of their companions before.

Elizabeth lowered her hands from her head to look at the situation before her. She had tears in the corners of her eyes, Jack had hit her hard.

"And you…" Jack let go of Will and turned around to her, "I can't wait until you're gone. Drinking my rum and throwing up all over the floor… you know, why haven't you cleaned it up yet?"

"I can't…" she began but Jack grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her off the couch. If her legs had been right she would have been able to stand but when he let her go she dropped to the floor beside her own vomit.

"You will," Jack said, reaching over and grabbing roll of paper towel and throwing it at her. Elizabeth tried to move her feet, but they were still wobbly. She looked up at Will who was looking down at her with an expression not near as mean as Jack's. Jack was scowling at her.

"What's wrong with you?" Jack shouted, "Can't you move?"

Elizabeth cowered away from him, trying to stop herself from crying.

"You shot her full of drugs!" Will cried, "She can't walk! Leave the girl alone!!"

Jack's face softened, but he shoved Will towards the door.

"After you," he said miserably. They left and Jack closed the door behind him. Elizabeth, despite fighting back her tears, didn't hear the door being locked. If she could get her legs beneath her, maybe, just maybe… she could escape.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Elizabeth sat for a while, listening. She heard footsteps above and voices, rowdy and arguing. She wondered what could be going on.

She had given up on crying. It did her no good, so Elizabeth took it upon herself to start thinking positively, in an almost unrealistically optimistic way. She kept thinking that she wouldn't get sent to a brothel in the Caribbean, she wouldn't be killed, she wouldn't be raped or anything of that sort. James would come for her, along with the authorities, and rescue her, her knight in shining armor.

She actually felt real joy instead of her optimistically forced happiness when she successfully moved her leg. She did it without realizing at first, but with some effort she was able to put her chin on her knee. Her other leg, was still messed up, but the feeling was back. She couldn't help the smile that was on her face.

"I haven't got around to cleaning up… the mess," Elizabeth thought, looking at the vomit that was on the floor not far away from her, "but it's going to be hard with my hands bound."

She got a mental image of Jack, furious, standing above her.

_"What's wrong with you?" he had fumed_, _"Can't you move?"_

Elizabeth shivered. Jack was intimidating, he reminded her of the notorious pirates she had learned about in class. Probably, if he was sent in a time portal to the 18th century, he would fit in with all the cutthroats of that era. He'd blend in very nicely.

But Will, on the other hand, didn't seem nearly as intimidating. Will, if it could be possible, seemed to be on her side. He had made a point to defend her multiple times… but why?

She had no clue.

---

James stepped into the boat, shrugging on a lifejacket. The police boat, equipped with two big motors, seemed large enough. There were four police officers already on the boat, and James approached one tall, burly man, who was dressed in uniform.

"Excuse me, sir," James said awkwardly

The man looked at James.

"What are you doing here?" he spat, "Go home, kid."

"Chief McLean told me to give someone this," James stood his ground, holding out a folded paper to the man. He snatched it from his hand and quickly unfolded it and skimmed it over.

"Hm," the man grunted, "You're willing to risk your life to come with us, eh?"

James nodded, trying to seem convincing.

"Yes," he answered.

"Well," the man said, "As long as you don't get sea sick you won't have a problem. I just want to make it clear, what I or any of the other officers tell you to do, you do it, understand? Don't step out of line even once, for it could get us all killed."

"Yes, sir," James replied, "Whatever you say."

The police officer turned and walked off, muttering to himself.

"What is Chief McLean thinking… eighteen year olds…"

James sighed, and sat down on a padded seat out on the deck of the boat. Even at eighteen, adults still considered him young and immature.

He wondered about Elizabeth, looking out at the ocean. Where could she be now? Was she alright? He felt sick with worry, but suddenly his mind was jerked away from Elizabeth when the motor started up with a large roar.

He jumped, and the boat suddenly flew forward, the bow high in the air until the weight was maintained. His hair was flying back as the boat flew across the water at nearly thirty miles an hour.

James caught the officer he had given Chief McLean's letter to glance at him. His face must have been comical, for the officer smirked and shook his head.

----

Elizabeth's legs were just about normal now. She was able to bend them, curl her toes, and twirl her ankles. Although her movements were still slow paced, she was quite satisfied with her progress.

For an extra bonus, Elizabeth tried to kick at the air, but that movement was too demanding yet. Her leg didn't move as quickly as she wanted it to, and it just dropped to the floor.

Elizabeth looked the only window in the room, even though it was covered with a blind, she could see that the sun was shining brightly behind it.

It must have been nearing midday, for she found it awfully warm within the little room. Her hair was sticking to her neck and face, and her clothes were damp. She felt disgusting.

Suddenly, she heard the latch of the door unlocking, and she froze. If it was Jack, he would be angry at her, for not cleaning as he had instructed. Elizabeth let her legs fall limp, and she held her breath.

The door opened, and it was a relief to see Will walk in, wearing a pair of sunglasses. Jerking them off his face, he waved his hand throughout the air.

"Is it ever warm in here!" Will exclaimed, "Are you warm, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow, noticing how he was talking to her like they were old friends. He even used her name.

Will held up his hand as she opened her mouth to answer, "Yes, I know you are. Look at you, you're soaked in your own sweat."

He shook his head, setting his shades on the table, and walking over to her. He kneeled down, and hit her knee, rather hard.

"Ouch!" Elizabeth cried, her leg responding reflexively.

"The drugs have worn off, I see," Will smiled kindly, "That's good."

"Where's Jack?" Elizabeth asked, "Please… don't tell him I haven't gotten it cleaned up…"

She gestured towards the vomit that still remained on the floor. Will glanced at it, and looked back to her smiling.

"I won't," Will replied almost kindly, "Jack's passed out from too much rum. I'll help you clean it up."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked, thrown off with his sudden kind offer.

"Yeah," Will answered, picking up the paper towel roll Jack had thrown at her earlier. He unrolled several pieces and ripped them off and handed them to her, but stopped when he realized her hands were tied. He sighed, "Jack…" and quickly began untying her hands.

He threw the rope aside and handed her the paper towel. Elizabeth rubbed her wrists, which were raw from the rope. She thought it was strange how he untied her hands, but she said nothing.

As Will tore off his own long strip, he said, "Do you think you can crawl?"

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded.

"Alright," Will nodded back, and he crawled over to the vomit and hastily threw the paper towel down on it. Elizabeth shoved her hair out of her eyes and began crawling over beside him. Her knees were sore, but she ignored the pain and reached Will's side. She copied him and put the paper towel down over the mess.

"Let the towel soak it up," Will said, sitting back on his knees, "I don't expect Jack to be up anytime soon. He's really addicted to his rum, and when it brings him down and out, he stays that way for a good three hours or so. When he does wake, however, you cleaned it up, alright? Not me."

"Ok," Elizabeth replied.

Will got to his feet, and she was surprised when he offered her his hand. She hesitated, but took it. He had to pull her to her feet, and the sudden weight on her legs caused her pain, and she couldn't help but cry out and fall onto Will's shoulder.

"Elizabeth," Will wrapped his arm around her shoulders supportively, "Here, lean on me."

"Thank you," Elizabeth stammered. She was so close to Will, that she could smell him. Despite seeming grimy, he smelled good. Cologne, shaving cream, and a sweet scent she couldn't quite define.

"No problem," Will said, "Keep standing. Once you get your legs beneath you, they'll stay for good. Jack should have never given you those drugs."

"Is there a bathroom?" Elizabeth asked bravely.

"Of course," Will answered, "Its right over here."

He led her over to a closed door. She did pretty well for walking. Just put one foot in front of the other, she told herself. The pain subsided with each step. Will reached to the doorknob and opened the door.

The bathroom was rather large, with all the facilities. It was quite clean, as well.

"There," Will answered, "You can make it the rest of the way by yourself?"

"Mhm," Elizabeth nodded, and she slowly walked into the bathroom, a hand on the wall just incase. She made it in and closed the door.

Will stood outside, and he folded his arms on his chest. He sighed quite loudly, and looked at the floor.

"_This girl," _he thought, _"I'm regretting ever grabbing her off that bench. I should have never let Jack talk me into having rum that night. Elizabeth seems to be so nice, and I fear, now that she's here… Jack will, without a doubt, try to sell her to a brothel in the Caribbean. Damn. I've done many stupid things in my life, and this was one of them. Now I bet the police are after us… and we can't just stop and hand her over! They'll arrest us without a second thought. I mean… we stole this yacht, food, rum, money, and Jack killed that man, and now we've kidnapped Elizabeth!"_

He heard the toilet flush and a few seconds later Elizabeth opened the door. She looked steady on her feet.

"How's the legs?" Will asked.

"I can walk by myself," Elizabeth replied, smiling slightly. But her smile quickly faded and she looked away from him.

"You want to go up on deck?" he decided to ask.

Elizabeth looked back at him. She simply nodded. Grabbing his sunglasses off the table, he walked over to the door and opened it. It lead immediately to a set of stairs. Will hurried up them, Elizabeth not far behind.

When Elizabeth stepped up on deck, the sunlight blinded her, and she shielded her eyes, and she managed to see Will standing ahead of her, and behind him, was a railing, and an endless blue eternity of the sea.

Now that she could see Will in normal light, she was shocked when she saw how handsome he was, more handsome than James. She could see his tan properly now, and through his thin muscle shirt, she could see his well built body.

Horrified at letting her eyes wander, she shook her head. Will was looking at her, a small smirk on his face.

"Do you want these?" Will asked, handing her his sunglasses.

She took them and put them on her face. It made it quite easier to see, and she looked around the deck. It was fairly large in size. The wood looked almost golden, and there were deck chairs all about.

She was surprised when she saw Jack passed out on one of them, a rum bottle dangling from limp hand.

"See?" Will gestured at Jack, "Out cold."

Elizabeth nodded.

Her nose was filled with salty air, and it was a good, familiar smell. However, it smelled much fresher out on the open ocean.

The ocean was open, indeed. Whichever way she turned, there was no land to be seen, just turquoise water and blue sky.

A warm salty air ruffled her hair, making the hot rays of the sun not so bad. Elizabeth found herself smiling. She had always wanted to go out on a cruise, but she never had gotten the opportunity. Her father was afraid of the ocean, she had never learned the reason why, but he refused to go out on the ocean, let alone buy a boat.

"It's nice out here, isn't it?" Will asked, leaning against the rail. He looked back over the stern, where the motor left a long white trail of foam stretching out behind the yacht.

"Yes," Elizabeth answered.

"Turner!!"

She jumped when she heard a voice from above them. Both she and Will looked up. On the higher decks, where the wheel was located, an older man, with a scraggly beard and long scraggily hair and big nose, peered down on them through a pair of blue tinted sunglasses.

"Barbossa!" Will said, giving him a wave.

"What ye be doin' with the girl?" the man named Barbossa asked.

Elizabeth made a face. He had horrible grammar, and he talked like those pirates did on old movies.

"Just have her out on deck," Will answered calmly, "While Jack's passed out."

"Hmf," Barbossa shrugged, "Alright… but if he wakes up and finds ye out with her, don't say I didn't warn ye."

"Aye, Barbossa," Will smiled, "Don't you say nothing to him about it, understand?"

"I won't," Barbossa scoffed, "Jack doesn't know about the rum you steal from him all the time, now does he?"

Will grinned.

"No, I guess not," he answered.

"Exactly," Barbossa raised his eyebrows. Taking off his sunglasses, he looked at Elizabeth. "What's yer name?"

"Elizabeth Swann," she answered.

"Ms. Swann," Barbossa grinned, "Welcome aboard."

He laughed after this.

"Thank you," Elizabeth answered awkwardly, glancing at Will.

Barbossa disappeared out of view again, to tend to the wheel.

"That's Barbossa," Will filled her in, "He and Jack don't get along too well, so he's more than happy to keep my little secrets from Jack. You don't have to worry about him."

"Ok," Elizabeth nodded, brushing a piece of her blowing hair from her eyes.

The yacht went over a larger swell, and Elizabeth stumbled and almost fell over. Will grabbed her arm, chuckling.

"You have to still get your sea legs," Will told her, "After a while, little waves like that won't bother you at all."

Elizabeth sighed and sat down on a deck chair, looking over at Jack.

"I'm afraid he might wake up," Elizabeth answered, "I don't like him."

"I don't like him much either," Will replied, "But Jack's not a bad guy when he's not into his rum… but that's rarely ever. Don't worry about him waking up. Like I said, he's out cold."

----

James still remained in his seat he had first sat in an hour earlier. His knuckles were white from clinging onto the railing. His face was white too.

They had run into some rough water, and the steady swaying of the boat, despite going sixty miles an hour, was getting to him.

Several times, he caught some of the officers look back at him, but they didn't talk to him at all.

Suddenly, James spotted a boat ahead of them. It looked a lot like the yacht that he had seen the night before. He shot up, the boat not seeming to bother him anymore. He felt his stomach churn with nervousness.

The yacht was anchored in the water, and he could see a few people aboard. Could one of them be Elizabeth?

As the police officer slowed the boat to about five miles an hour, the rocking grew more violent. James slapped his hand over his mouth and hung his head over the side, feeling his breakfast coming up.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye to the yacht as they came up alongside the yacht. There were a mix of young men and women aboard. The women all wore bikinis and brightly colored wraps, and the men wore bright swimming trunks and thin bright shirts.

They all turned to look at the police boat as they came up, and none of them panicked. None of them raced to turn on the engine and speed away.

James felt his hope sink.

"Hey, can we help you?" asked one of the young men aboard the yacht.

"Yes," the officer James had given the note to stood up, "Did you happen to see a yacht, about the size of yours go by here?"

"Hmm," The man thought for a moment, and he turned to a young woman standing behind him holding a fancy martini, "Did you, babe?"

"Yeah, I did," The woman put one hand on her hip, "A yacht, almost exactly like ours. It went by here hours ago, going way past the speed limit. They just were heading south."

"Okay," the officer nodded, "Thank you very much."

"No problem," the woman smiled, putting her hand on the shoulder of her boyfriend.

James hope rose again, although not as high as it first had been.

The boat started up again, and James' face lost all color. He could no longer hold back and vomited over the side.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Elizabeth sat on the deck for a while, enjoying the sun as it soaked into her skin. Will stood beside her chair, leaning against the rail. He had fished a cigar out of his pocket and lit up. The smell was actually not that bad mixed with the salty air. The conversation between them was light, common, harmless conversation Elizabeth could expect to have with Anamaria or even James. For a while, Elizabeth actually forgot that she was kidnapped by modern day pirates.

Will seemed curious enough about her. He asked her about school, what classes she took, and what she found easy and what she found hard. He listened, nodding occasionally but making no personal connections whatsoever. Besides his questions, Elizabeth felt the conversation was pretty much one-sided, but she didn't care. It made her feel better to talk, although she wasn't exactly sure why.

Will didn't bother looking at her as he spoke, his eyes were focused behind the boat, watching the trail of foam left behind them, almost cautiously, as if he was expecting a fleet of police boats come flying over the horizon after them.

He seemed relaxed enough. Shoulders rounded, arms folded, legs crossed: a typical stance of one who was pretty much care-free. His eyes, were narrowed only the slightest from the sun, Elizabeth figured he must be well used to it. She felt inspired enough to take off his sunglasses from her face. She squinted, but within a few minutes her eyes adjusted well enough.

"You can have these back," she said quietly, holding the sunglasses out to him.

Taking the smoking cigar from his lips and exhaling the haze before he spoke, Will looked down at the sunglasses in her hand, and then his eyes flickered up to meet hers.

"You sure?" he asked, although he didn't wait for an answer before taking them from her and hanging them on the collar of his shirt.

Elizabeth gave him a little smile, but he didn't see. His eyes were glued to Jack. Jack's fingers loosened on the empty bottle of rum and it clunked to the deck. At the twitch of Jack's nose, Will suddenly yanked Elizabeth up off the deck chair she had been sitting on, and practically shoved her down the steps to the lower decks.

"He's going to be up any minute," Will said quickly in her ear, and he flung open the door to the cabin.

They heard Jack's voice from up on deck.

"Will?"

There was the sound of foot steps and next thing Jack was standing at the top of the staircase, looking unsteadily down at them.

Will turned around to Elizabeth, his face switching from calm to angry.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled at her, "Get in there! You ain't supposed to leave the bloody room!"

With that, he shoved a shocked Elizabeth into the room, and slammed the door in her face. For a few moments, she just stood there, astonished, but as she heard Will clattering back up the steps to meet Jack, she pressed her ear to the door to listen.

"Oi, what was that?" she heard Jack asked.

"Ms. Swann thought she could try and leave the room," Will's voice responded a second later.

"Didn' ye lock the bloody door?" Jack asked again, but he didn't wait for an answer, "But ye did good Will, to set her straight."

Elizabeth, still remaining with her ear at the door, closed her eyes and let out a little breath. Will was covering for her.

"Thank you, Will," she whispered, but suddenly she frowned, and backed up from the door, and she flopped down casually at the table in the little mini kitchenette.

_Wait, what am I doing, thanking him?_ She thought, running her fingers through her hair, _After all, he was the one who kidnapped me! Dammit all… why did I even think once I should try and be friendly with him? Nothing good is going to happen to me, we're far from my home, what looks to be in southern waters, and Jack's planning to sell me to a brothel! I'm just a 17 year old girl… I still have so much ahead of me in life… there's no way I'm going to let them just… sell me like some object on eBay! Oh James, where are you??_

-----

James hung his head lifelessly over the rail. His face still hadn't regained its normal color, and the horrible taste of bile remained in his mouth. After giving up his breakfast to the waves, he had gone through a series of retching whenever the boat bounced over a larger wave. These retching spells had rendered him tired and limp. The breeze, however, that whipped his hair straight backwards off his skull and caressed his face with its salty yet refreshing coolness, made him feel just a little better.

"How you doin' back there?" James heard a voice, and he slightly turned his head to face the speaker. The officer talking to him was the same one to whom he had given the note.

James sucked in a breath of air, and for a moment he thought he was going to vomit again, but he swallowed and was able to answer, "Just… fine…"

"Sure doesn't look that way," the officer said, walking over to him. He sat down and looked at James' ghost-white face, "Why did you bother even coming with us if you were going to get seasick? You can love your girlfriend, but… to come out here and be seasick just for her, my; you must love her a lot."

"I never knew… I was going to be… seasick," James said in-between swallows, "Normally, I'm not. It must be… the… rough sea."

"That's what it usually is," the officer nodded, "What's your name, anyway?"

"James Norrington," he answered.

"Ah, you're a Norrington," the officer grinned, "That's a last name to be proud of for sure."

James mustered a little smile.

"What's your name?" he asked, curiously.

"Cutler Beckett," the officer answered, "Never much cared for my first name... you can call me Constable Beckett, or just Beckett."

James nodded in response.

"So did Chief McLean tell you the risks?" asked Beckett.

"Yeah," James replied, "I know. I am willing to die for Elizabeth."

"We won't let you die for Elizabeth," Beckett snapped.

At first, James gave him a strange look, and seemed a bit offended, and Beckett laughed.

"I don't mean it that way," Beckett replied, "I'm a police officer, and I'm not going to let you die. It's my job to keep people safe. However, you coming along gives us one more person to cover for, you see."

"I will be of any help," James offered, "Just tell me what to do."

"Well I'll let you to help as much as the law allows," Beckett drummed his fingers, "There's a line in which I must draw when it comes to help from civilians, but I'll let you know."

James nodded.

"Do you really think they're pirates?" James asked, "I mean, the men who took Elizabeth."

"Pirates?" Beckett raised an eyebrow, "What I think of when I hear pirates are the swashbucklers with parrots and peg legs, but I suppose that term can be used for these men, yes."

"Is there any evidence that gives us a lead?" James pushed on, eager to hear anything more he might not have been told.

"Well there are speculations only," Beckett replied, "Two men in our database describe

your descriptions, and they have nothing but bad history. Illegal trafficking, possession of illegal weapons, drugs and associated paraphernalia, fraud, pilfering, vandalism, you name it. I have copies of their profiles, if you'd like to see."

o as that term. Pirates are usuall"Beckett reached in his coat pocket and pulled out two folded pieces of paper and handed them over to James, who took them eagerly. His curiosity helped him get his mind off his sickness.

As James unfolded the papers, Beckett added:

"Apparently what happened in our town was little compared to the things they've done in the past."

James nodded, and looked down at the first man in the picture.

"Yes, this is one of them!" James declared, "The younger one…" He looked at the suspect's name, "William Turner."

He shuffled to the next picture, and immediately recognized the other man.

"Yes, and this guy, I know it was him," James nodded, "The bandana and the dreadlocks..."

"Clarification, that's good," Beckett said, "And that one, with the dread locks, apparently he's a pro when it comes to anything against the law. Jack Sparrow, his name is. Why just look at his list of crimes compared to the Turner boy's. It's quite longer and the crimes in question are a lot more…"

"Murder?" James interrupted, his head shooting up. He stared at Beckett in bewilderment.

"Serious," Beckett finished, "Yes… both first and second degrees."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" James demanded.

"I showed you these papers, didn't I?" Beckett asked, "Chief McLean and his lot figured we should keep that hush-hush from both you and Ms. Swann's father, but I figure you deserve to know. I don't mean to sound negative, but that way if something happens to your girlfriend, you won't be completely surprised."

James exhaled deeply, and bit his lip. He glanced out at the sea, and then back at Beckett. He handed the papers back to him.

"It's not exactly what I wanted to hear," James announced, "But… I appreciate you being open and telling me the truth. That's what makes me so mad about the others, they try and keep it all quiet… but we do deserve to know."

"Rightly so," Beckett nodded, "But it's your age too, Norrington. When people see someone young like you they don't really treat you the same, you must be aware of that by now."

"Oh yeah," James folded his arms, "It happens a lot, not that often to me, but to others."

"I try to not be like that, to be absolutely stereotypical," Beckett said, "And now that I'm getting to know you, I realize you're a responsible young man, and you view this situation as seriously as any of us."

"Thank you, sir," James allowed a small smile to come on his face. The words coming from a police officer made his chest swell with pride. Now that he gained Beckett's approval, it would make this whole deal a lot easier, he wouldn't feel as alone.

However, there was a strange emptiness in his stomach that made him feel like he was fighting this all by himself. Emotionally alone, he decided.

----

Now that she had her legs beneath her, Elizabeth puttered around below decks. She held her nose with one hand and managed to pick up the paper towels soaked with her vomit and deposit them in the trash can. She felt somewhat relieved when the mess was out of the way, and she stood back and admired her work.

Elizabeth didn't feel nearly as helpless as she had before. She could walk, most of her strength was back, and she sort of had Will covering for her. The situation could be way worse.

Despising the dimness of the room, Elizabeth opened the shutters, allowing the sun to shine in and illuminate the room. The sun, however, reminded her of how thirsty she was. The rum Will had offered her a while ago was disgusting and burned her throat. Water, she thought, water would taste so good right now.

She walked over to the kitchenette, and opened the door of the mini-fridge. Inside, Elizabeth was quite shocked upon its contents. On the top shelf there were bottles upon bottles of rum, and on the door there were a few mini bottles tucked away as well. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she spotted a plastic pitcher on the bottom shelf containing water. She pulled it out and set it on the counter, closing the fridge door.

Elizabeth opened the cabinet doors, and it was loaded full of glasses and plates. Jack and Will must have stolen this boat from people who had a few pennies to spare, or so to speak.

She took out a big glass and poured it almost to the brim with the cold water, and lifted the glass to her lips and took a big drink. The cold water trickled down her dry throat and it was heaven.

"That's the stuff," Elizabeth said quietly to herself as she set the half empty glass down.

The water had awoken her stomach, or so it seemed. She had water, and now her stomach grumbled for the next thing her body needed: food.

For a couple of seconds Elizabeth contemplated the consequences that might come along from going in and eating food without asking. What would Jack do if he found out?

"Screw him," she said aloud, her stomach shoving her conscience out of the way. She opened another set of cabinet doors and found food. Junk food, even! Elizabeth smiled to herself, she had found the jackpot.

They wouldn't notice if she took a couple of granola bars and maybe a bag of chips, she figured. She reached in and grabbed two handfuls worth of food and sat down at the table.

She couldn't get the wrappers off quick enough. Hell, granola bars were the best thing in the world at that moment.

Elizabeth was about halfway finished of her first granola bar, when she saw the doorknob turning and the sound of the door opening. She froze. What could she do? Run? It was too late and the door swung open and she saw Jack and Will come into the room.

Jack saw her with the food, not to mention her mouth full, and his eyes narrowed. Elizabeth swallowed her food, but other than that, remained still. She just stared at Jack, caught in the act. She waited for him to explode.

However, he didn't. He just gave her a weird look and looked down over at the floor where she had vomited.

"Ya got it cleaned up!" he exclaimed, folding his arms on his chest, and looking back at her, "Good for you, ya little goddamned rodent. Raiding our food just like a little mouse…"

Elizabeth wasn't sure whether his tone was getting dangerous or not. She glanced at Will, and then back at Jack.

"I was hungry…" Elizabeth said softly.

"Well, obviously!" Jack threw up his arms in exasperation, "Do ya think I'm stupid, girl? Do you!?"

"No," Elizabeth answered quickly.

Jack nodded.

"Did you ask for that food?" he snapped.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to answer, but Will spoke up:

"I told her she could have some, Jack," Will replied, "She isn't doing anything wrong."

Jack huffed, and walked over and swiped a granola bar off the table.

"I'm hungry too," He grumbled, "Ya haven't been into my rum, have ya, Will?"

"No, Jack," Will sighed, "Ask Barbossa."

"Barbossa," Jack snapped, looking at him viciously, "how would Barbossa know what yer doin'? He's up drivin' the bloody boat, ya twit."

"I can vouch for him," Elizabeth spoke up, although she still kept her voice small, "He didn't drink any of your rum, Jack."

Jack twirled around to face her, his eyes once again narrowing, but he nodded.

"Ok then," He said, "but if I find out either of you are lyin' to me, I'll kill ya both, understand?"

"Jack," Will put his hand on his shoulder, "Just calm down. You don't want to get all worked up again, do you?"

"Oh shut up, Will," Jack jerked his shoulder out of Will's grasp, "If I wanted some consoling I'd call me mum. Oh, and Lizzy," he turned to Elizabeth, "You can have this back."

Jack took out her iPod nano and slid it across the table to her. Elizabeth stopped it just before it slid off the edge, and looked up at him in surprise.

"Didn't you steal it from me?" Elizabeth asked.

"Shut up," Jack snapped, "The music you got on there ain't music. What the hell do you listen to, anyway? Jesus…"

Jack turned away from her and he walked over to the couch and flopped down on it.

"Ugh, do I ever have a bleedin' headache. Hurts like a bitch…" he grumbled, "whoever opened those goddamned shutters, close them!"

Elizabeth jumped up out of her seat and hurried to close the blinds. As she leaned over the couch to close one of them, Jack poked her in the ribs. She let out a little yelp and jumped backwards.

"Don't touch me!" She told him.

Jack grinned and chuckled cruelly.

"I'll touch ya all I want, Lizzy," he said, "Now close them blinds before I get really pissed off."

Elizabeth looked back over her shoulder at Will, and his expression was apologetic. He gave her a little shrug. She turned back and leaned over the couch again and pulled the blinds shut. Jack decided this time to slap her butt.

She let out a little shriek, and whirled around to hit him, but he grabbed her wrist just her hand was coming at his face. It stopped fast.

"I wouldn't try that, if I were you," Jack said, "If you hit me I think my hand might just slip and I'd hit you back, understand?"

Elizabeth looked at him, her cheeks red from anger. She managed a little nod. Jack laughed and released her wrist.

She quickly backed away from him, disgusted. She glanced at Will, who was in the process of lighting up another cigar. Confusion was whirling in Elizabeth's mind. Why didn't he do anything? Why didn't he intervene this time?

Whose side was he really on after all?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Elizabeth sat in silence at the table, her legs crossed, her brown eyes focused on her iPod in her hands. She figured it would be the best way to try and calm down. It truthfully helped, her favorite song helped her get her mind off the past 24 hours, getting kidnapped, throwing up, being harassed by Jack, and… spending time with Will.

The small room, despite the blinds being pulled down to help aid Jack's headache, was unbearably stuffy and hot. The fact that Will was filling the already thick, hot air with his cigar smoke didn't help the matter at all. Elizabeth's hair was stuck to her neck, and her clothes to her body. She hadn't put on fresh deodorant since the day she was kidnapped, and she was frightened to think of how she smelled.

Elizabeth's brown eyes flickered up to Jack, he was rolled over on his side, facing away from her and Will, but it was impossible to tell if he was asleep or not. He hadn't moved in a while, and Elizabeth decided to take her chance.

She glanced over at Will, and jerked one earbud from her ear.

"Must you smoke that?" she was irritated, glowering at Will's cigar in his fingers.

Will looked at her, surprised.

"Why?" he retorted, his eyes narrowed, "I don't recall this being _your _boat. I can smoke if I damn well want to."

Elizabeth was shocked to get such a response from Will. It could have been very well expected if she had said the same thing to Jack – and Jack probably would have hit her afterwards – but for Will to say something like that?

Bloody hell. He wasn't like that a few minutes ago.

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Elizabeth snapped, but Will fixed her with such a glare she felt frightened. She didn't look away though.

Will took the cigar from his mouth, and looked at Jack, then back at her, his expression growing softer. His lips moved, but no words came out.

However, Elizabeth was able to understand him. He had said, "Not sleeping."

He was referring to Jack.

Elizabeth smiled in spite of herself. She understood now. Will acted like this around Jack… it was an act. To keep their "acquaintance" a mystery to Jack.

Will didn't smile, but she could see it in his eyes. He then looked down at his cigar as he fiddled with it in his fingers, then leaned over and snuffed it out in the ashtray on the table. Elizabeth's eyes met his and she felt her heart flutter.

Will straightened and broke eye contact. He folded his arms on his chest and leaned against the wall, finding someplace on the floor to occupy his eyes.

Elizabeth's first thought was to just watch him, but she tore her eyes away from him, and too, found a place on the floor to stare at instead. It was a place not too far from the couch, where the wooden panels had been scratched by something, leaving a dent in the polished surface a couple of inches long and a few centimeters deep.

The cigar smoke still lingered in the air; stubborn to die, despite the cigar itself had been smothered. It wasn't that intolerable; in fact it was a smell Elizabeth associated with Will.

It was an association she'd prefer not to exist at all, but just like the cigar smoke, the thoughts of Will were stubborn, and wouldn't be erased from her mind that easily. Especially when the man was standing not six feet away.

Elizabeth's thoughts began to interfere with the enjoyment of her music, so she shut the iPod off. The play/pause button was sticky with some sort of substance, and Elizabeth wrinkled her nose in disgust. Jack had stolen it for what, a few hours? He managed to deface it with rum or some other liquid.

She flipped the hold button on, and then feverishly wiped the iPod on her jeans, then wrapped the earbuds around it and slipped it in her pocket. She then pulled her hair back off her sweaty neck, and enjoyed the moment it wasn't smothered with her hair. It cooled her down maybe just a little, but as far as she was concerned, it was better than nothing.

Elizabeth was just about to let her hair back fall down on her shoulders, but all of a sudden a hair elastic was in her face. She looked at the hand holding it, and looked up to its owner. Will was looking right into her eyes. His hair hung loose now.

She reached up and took it, not breaking eye contact.

"Thank you," she said in a whisper.

He nodded, and ran his fingers through his hair, then untied his bandana, which he had wrapped around his wrist, shook it out to its full size, then folded it in half and tied it around his head.

Elizabeth realized she had sat there and just watched him like some idiot, so she quickly looked away and put her hair up into a ponytail. She instantly felt better.

The silence had been so great, both Will and Elizabeth jumped as Jack's loud snore broke it.

"Out again," Will sighed lowly, seeming not surprised, "Typical Jack."

"I can talk now?" Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow."

"Yes, but keep it down," Will walked a few steps backwards to lean up against the wall again. His arms found their place on his chest, and he looked at her, "The last thing you want to do is wake him up."

"You were a big asshole to me a few minutes ago, I hope you know that," Elizabeth declared.

"Jesus, I thought you understood my miming," Will snapped.

Elizabeth smiled and laughed, "Jesus, I thought you could take a joke."

Will sighed and raised an eyebrow, a small smirk coming on his thin lips.

"Haha," he mused, "very funny."

Elizabeth, for the first time in a while, felt a bit of comfort wash over her. It was so strange, why on earth would she feel… comfortable? She was in the Atlantic Ocean, kidnapped by "modern day pirates", whose intentions were to sell her to a brothel in the Caribbean.

However, when you feel an emotion, its true. You're feeling it, and its meaning never lies.

"Will?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you doing this?" It was an honest question. Now that she knew Will well enough that he wouldn't flip out or threaten to kill her, or answer her sarcastically like Jack would, she wasn't afraid to ask. Well, mostly.

Will's expression hardened.

"Doing what?" he shrugged.

"Why did you snatch me off the dock?" Elizabeth demanded, "Why are you taking me to the Caribbean?"

Will's eyes narrowed, and he looked like he was about to speak, but suddenly the background hum of the engines dissolved. He shot away from the wall, and was to the window in seconds, shoving back the blinds.

"Blast, we're stopping. Why?" Will said lowly, more to himself than anyone else.

He turned around, and at the same time, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Elizabeth froze, her heart pounding in her ears.

It could be rescue. They could have found her, and James could be with them…

Her hopes were crushed when she saw Barbossa enter the room. Will was on him in seconds, his voice serious.

"Why are we stopped?"

"Calm down, Turner," Barbossa grunted, "As ye all sit down 'ere relaxin' and havin' a easy ol' time, ye be forgettin' bout poor Hector Barbossa up in the heat drivin' the boat. I've jus' come down to get me self somethin' to drink."

Will sighed, and let himself relax.

"Okay, Barbossa, but hurry it along, please," Will went back to his place against the wall, "Jack's got a schedule, not to mention we're probably under pursuit."

Barbossa grunted as he got himself a glass of water.

"The only schedule Jack's got is gettin' drunk n' pickin' up poor girls like 'er," Barbossa gestured to Elizabeth before taking a drink.

Will let out a deep sigh, and Elizabeth saw his expression wasn't really contented.

"Jack didn't kidnap me," she said to Barbossa.

"Oh he didn' eh?" Barbossa raised an eyebrow, and chuckled, "Then who did. Turner?"

He looked at Will, assuming it was a joke, but Will's expression told him otherwise. Barbossa narrowed his eyes, "Will? What 'r ya tryin' to be? Well I saw ya drag her inta the boat, but I thought it was Jack's idea…"

Will didn't respond, and Barbossa must have been wondering the same thing Elizabeth was, because he asked, "Why'd ya do it, Will?"

"Ya know I was _drunk_, Barbossa, alright?" Will raised his voice, "Now hurry up with that damn glass of water, and get the boat going again. If Jack wakes up and we ain't movin', he'll be pissed. We don't want anyone catching up with us."

Barbossa nodded, and finished off his glass of water and set it down on the counter, then trudged up the stairs. As he was going he said, "We're almost to Tortuga anyway. Just another day or two, I'd say. Once we get there, we can hide the boat, hell, even light 'er on fire and sink her. I don't know…"

His voice trailed off as he went up on deck, and his footsteps could be heard as he went back up to his post at the wheel.

Will sighed, and shook his head.

"Jack gets mad at _me._ Barbossa should have been shot by now," Will muttered, more to himself than to Elizabeth.

"Will?" Elizabeth asked, as she reached across the table for the bag of chips she had taken from the cupboard earlier. She opened them and took out a handful, and offered the bag to him.

"What?" Will asked, reaching in and taking a big overflowing handful of chips.

Elizabeth looked over at Jack's sleeping form on the couch, and then back at Will. Keeping her voice low, she asked, "What… crimes … has Jack committed?"

"Oh…" Will looked very thoughtful, "You mind as well have asked me to recite the phone book. He's got a huge rap sheet, stealing, assault, smuggling – basically dozens of repeats of those… but there was one time, he… didn't really… well… he was aggravated…"

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth demanded.

"Jack's committed murder," Will scoffed, "The first one, was an indirect killing, 2nd degree murder, I think that's what it's called in police terms. That was before I'd met him, back when Jack was running solo, and doing things way worse than he's doing now. He's getting older, ya know, just turned 44 this June. Back years ago, Jack did practically anything you can name, from minor to serious offences. He's kinda cooling off now. He just drinks rum and doesn't give a shit.

"Jack's second murder, was about as direct as you can get. I was with him then, and I was still not getting all the ropes, and some guy we were sellin' some stuff we stole to, got aggravated and started shooting off that he didn't agree with the price. The guy, he was older than Jack and was probably some big crack-head. Everyone knew Jack by then, he'd established his name all over the Caribbean, and God knows where else. This guy, that stupid guy, thought Jack was a pussy, those were his words. Jack shot him. I was standing right behind Jack, and then I saw Jack whip out his gun and give the guy a third eye, right here."

Will pointed to his forehead.

Elizabeth grimaced, and looked absolutely horrified.

"He shot him," she repeated, somewhat daftly.

"Mhm," Will nodded, "And I nearly shit myself, honest to God, when I saw that guy drop like a dead weight, his blood all over the place… but Jack, he was calm… calmer than I've ever seen him."

Elizabeth's face was white, and she just opened her mouth to say something, but they both heard clapping. Will and Elizabeth turned quickly and saw Jack, fully awake and sitting up, clapping.

"Good, good," Jack said, a strange smile curling across his face.

Elizabeth was suddenly frightened when she saw Jack remove the gun from his belt, grinning at it like a maniac.

"Will," Jack said in a strange soft voice, and then he laughed, "You should write my biography when I bite the dust, eh? Or, you might want to get started on it early. That was pretty damn good. For a moment there, I swore it was about someone else, you made it sound that good." Jack looked at Elizabeth, "So, Lizzy, now that you know that I'm a murderer… it gives ya a whole other reason to be scared of me, hm?"

Elizabeth decided to stay cool and she just shrugged.

"Actually it wasn't that surprising," she answered.

"You looked surprised," Jack raised his eyebrows and chuckled. He got to his feet and put his gun back in his belt, "Do I gotta go. Excuse me."

He walked past her into the bathroom and closed the door.

Elizabeth let out a sigh.

"I thought he was going to kill us or something," she whispered to Will, "When he took out that gun."

"Nah," Will said, "The rum's wearin' off, so he's gonna be in a half-decent mood… well, until he gets more rum into him. Enjoy this side of Jack while it lasts. It's an endangered species nowadays."

--

James sat on the edge of his seat, the waves not bothering him as much anymore. He felt proud, he'd pretty much gotten over his seasickness, for now, anyway. He anxiously scanned the horizon for any boats, any signs that they were catching up with Elizabeth's kidnappers.

As time wore on, he became accustomed to the empty horizon, but he wouldn't allow for his hopes to fade. They just had to find her.

Beckett was driving the boat now, glancing almost constantly from the ocean to a map sitting beside him. He had to keep one hand on it from blowing away, and he looked irritated for half of it kept whipping up from the wind.

He squinted, then shook his head, and then to James' horror, slowed the boat down and began to _turn around._

James was up off his seat in a second.

"What are we doing?" James shouted over the motor, "We can't turn around! We'll waste precious time! We've got to catch up to them, we're getting close, and I can feel it."

Beckett sighed, and stopped the boat completely.

"They nabbed Elizabeth at what… 6:30 at night?" James didn't like Beckett's tone, "And we left this morning. They are hours ahead of us, and we've reached our limit. If we go any further, we'll be out of Florida waters, and into the Caribbean."

"So what?" James demanded, "We've got to follow!"

"We'll be out of jurisdiction," Beckett snapped, "They're well into the Caribbean by now, and we don't have enough fuel to get that far. We have enough to get back home to the Keys. We have to turn around."

"And forget about Elizabeth?" James shouted, "It was to my understanding that we came out here to follow them, to get her back!"

Beckett sighed. He wanted to tell the boy that there was probably little hopes of finding her, but he bit his tongue.

"You're truly devoted," Beckett said, "and there is a way we can continue the search. But you'll be truly be putting your life at risk for this one, James."

James didn't even think twice.

"Whatever it is, I'll do it." He said.

--

A/N: Well, that's chapter 6. I apologize for the long wait for this one, but my computer was down for a month, not to mention I had exams to contend with. The plot thickens; James is truly devoted, and will be putting himself out on a limb in the next chapter, and Jack won't be as cruel, and the relationship with Will and Elizabeth continues to build, as can be expected.

--


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

James leaned awkwardly against the side of the boat, half looking out to sea, half watching Beckett as he paced about the deck, a cell phone held to his ear as he was talking quickly and impatiently.

Beckett sighed and ran his fingers through his short brown hair.

"Okay… no… he's not a cop… no… listen, he's a teenager… 18… yes, no… but… listen, he's devoted to his girlfriend…"

James heard the man on the other line,

"I don't know about this," the man answered.

"Listen, I'll make sure you get paid for this," Beckett replied, "And it's Jack Sparrow, you've been after him for years! It's a double package, my friend, you get Jack Sparrow, the kid hopefully gets his girlfriend back, and we can all go home happy!"

James shuddered at Beckett's use of "hopefully". They hopefully will find Elizabeth. She will hopefully be alive. Hopefully, no one will die or get hurt in this.

_Hopefully._

Beckett feverishly bickered with the man for the next five minutes, while everyone waited. The other officers on the boat sat around looking anxious to head home.

"Okay… yes… thank you," Beckett suddenly said, and this got the attention of everyone, "Um… yeah, hang on a second, I'll give you our coordinates…"

Beckett walked into the wheelhouse to consent the map, and came out a few seconds later, snapping the cell phone shut and tucking it into his breast pocket. He sighed, and looked at James.

"Well isn't today a lucky day for you," he declared.

"I don't think I quite understand," James raised an eyebrow, "Who was that man you were talking to? And what's going on?"

"His name is Sao Feng," Beckett said, "He's a Chinese immigrant, pretty much a bounty hunter, but he's a good friend of mine, and to the police. He's coming to pick you up, and take you the rest of the way. He doesn't need to go by jurisdiction, and hopefully both of you will benefit from this. As you may have heard me saying, Sao Feng has been after Jack Sparrow for years. If you're able to find them, Sao Feng will get Sparrow and Turner, and you will get Elizabeth back."

"Really?" James raised his eyebrows, "A bounty hunter? I didn't expect that at all, but if he's willing to help me find Elizabeth, that's great. Thank you, Beckett."

Beckett nodded.

"But you understand that once you embark on this chase, you're no longer under police protection. You're going to be putting your life on the line, here, James."

"I understand," James nodded solemnly, "Yes… I understand…"

"If you change your mind, I can call," Beckett said.

"Are you kidding?" James looked at him wildly, "I _am_ bringing Elizabeth back. I swear I'll not come back until I find her."

"I don't believe I've ever met anyone so young that's as daring as you," Beckett replied, "You've got some guts kid."

"Thanks," James answered with a small smile, "I mean, wouldn't you do the same? If it were you?"

Beckett was silent for a few seconds, his expression one of deep thought. Finally, he answered, "I suppose I would. Yes."

"It's what anyone would do," James said more to himself than Beckett, "It's just a human thing…"

"Sao Feng, I suppose I should let you know about him," Beckett said, putting his hands in his pockets, "He, like most bounty hunters, don't go by really any rules but their own. I had to really, really bribe him into letting you come with him, so do as he says. Got it?"

"Yeah," James nodded, "Got it… how soon will he be here, anyway?"

"He's not too far, lucky for you," James said, "I expect he'll be here in about a half an hour. And truthfully, I think you'll have a better chance finding Elizabeth with him than you would with us. Frankly, we've never dealt with pirates before, but for Sao Feng, chasing after pirates are as much part of his daily routine as going to school is a part of yours."

--

Jack came walking out of the bathroom, a strange friendly smile on his face. Elizabeth looked at him and then at Will, raising an eyebrow. Will simply smiled at her, and looked up at Jack.

"How you doing, Jack?" he asked.

"Good, William, you?" Jack replied, coming over to the table and taking the seat next to Elizabeth.

"I'm pretty good, I guess," Will shrugged.

"Hello Lizzy," Jack grinned at Elizabeth, "Will's good, I'm good, how's you, love?"

Elizabeth wasn't sure at first how to respond. Jack was being strangely nice, so nice that she wasn't sure if it was put on or if it was actually real.

However, Will had told her that she'd see Jack's "endangered species" side, when he wasn't drunk.

"Well," Elizabeth answered, "I'm kidnapped by modern day pirates, somewhere in the Caribbean and being taken to Tortuga to be sold to a brothel, so I guess for someone in that situation I am the best I can be, Jack."

"Well actually, for someone in such a situation," Jack shrugged, reaching forward and taking a handful of chips, "I believe you're quite content, if you ask me. Or at least that's what you look to me right now. Whaddya say, Will? She looks as content as a cucumber."

"Hmm," Will said, "Would 'content' be a plausible emotion for her right now? I mean she sure isn't at home cuddling up to her boyfriend."

Elizabeth frowned; the words "home" and "boyfriend" really made her wish this was all a dream. Yes, it would be quite nice, if she actually were at home cuddling up with James on her couch, maybe watching a movie or TV show.

"That's right," Jack nodded thoughtfully, "But Elizabeth, let me tell you something. You don't need to fear us, I might have killed a man, but it don't mean I'm gonna kill you," he laughed, "I'm just going to make some profit off you, s'all."

Elizabeth looked at Will and saw his expression instantly change upon Jack's comment.

"You know, Jack," Will said slowly, like he was carefully thinking over his words, "I… don't think it was the best idea taking her off the dock."

_Yes! That's right, it wasn't a good idea at all!_ Elizabeth thought. How much she wanted to say that, but she still didn't completely trust Jack's mood. He could still flip out.

"What do you mean?" Jack snapped, "Will, you ain't having second thoughts… you're not gonna chicken out on me! And anyway, it's not like we can turn around and give her back with an _'I'm sorry' _note taped to her forehead. This is _not_ the time for regrets, Will."

"You could take me back," Elizabeth spoke up, "Maybe when we got there, I could negotiate with my father to let you guys go, like maybe with just a fine or something…"

Jack threw his head back and laughed, a long mocking laugh, before stopping and looking at Elizabeth like she had five heads.

"You have no idea who we are, do you?" Jack asked, "When people hear 'Jack Sparrow' and 'Will Turner', it's like someone said 'George Bush' or 'Brad Pitt'. Everyone knows us, hell, in my good days, I was makin' the newspaper every week. And you think that if you talked to your Daddy, we'd get away with just a fine? That's funny. I'm sorry to tell you this, Lizzy, but you're not going home."

Elizabeth's first reaction was to say, "We'll see about that", but she quickly bit her tongue. She just nodded, and looked away from him, folding her arms on her chest.

"I hit a nerve there," Jack laughed, pushing back his chair and standing up, "Well, I don't know about you two, but I need some fresh air. Will's smoked the place up again with his stinking cigars…"

He quickly walked out of the room and hurried up the stairs onto the deck. From below, Elizabeth and Will heard him saying hello to Barbossa, in a strange happy voice.

Elizabeth looked at Will.

"That's the real Jack?" she demanded.

"Mhm," Will nodded, "A little bit better, don't you think? This is the Jack I prefer."

"He's a little bit better," Elizabeth shrugged, "I guess."

"You wanna come up on deck?" Will asked.

"Jack… won't… mind?" Elizabeth began but Will grabbed her arm and yanked her up off the chair and said, "Come on."

As they were walking up the stairs, Will took his sunglasses off his shirt and handed them back to Elizabeth.

"It's alright," she said, "I don't need them."

Will shrugged and put the sunglasses on the top of his head, and he walked up onto the deck. Elizabeth was blinded at first by the sun, but her eyes quickly adjusted, easier than they had before.

Jack was standing at the stern of the boat, his hands on his hips, watching the wake of foamy white water trailing along behind the boat. The salty air was lightly blowing his dreadlocks and his bandana around.

"Barbossa?" he shouted, looking back over his shoulder.

"Yeah, what?" Barbossa snapped grouchily from up by the wheel.

"How long to Tortuga?"

"Couple days, if we make stops at night…"

"No stops. How's our fuel?"

"Good," Barbossa grunted, "But no stops, Jack, I've been on the wheel forever. I'm gonna need to rest."

"Will can take over for tonight," Jack shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets, "Won't you, Will?" It was a rhetorical question.

Will sighed, and nodded.

"Right," he answered.

"I think we should make a quick dash into Cuba," Jack said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, "Whaddyou say?" He looked back at Elizabeth, "You mind if we take a lil' detour, Lizzy?"

"Doesn't matter to me," Elizabeth sighed, brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes and sitting down on one of the deck chairs, "I'm already kidnapped, so what difference would it make?"

Will chuckled and sat down in a chair next to her, and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.

"Ever been to Cuba?" he asked her with a grin.

"No," Elizabeth sighed, looking discontentedly out at the ocean beyond the railings, "You? Well, wait, never mind, I suppose you've been everywhere, since you follow Jack like a little dog."

She expected for a reaction to her comment, but Jack and Will chuckled together, "Will's not exactly my dog," Jack raised an eyebrow, "He has a bit of his own imagination, you know. He doesn't need me to tell him what to do, although I _do_ tell him what to do, most of the time."

"Why you wanna go to Cuba anyway?" Will asked, squinting up at Jack as he walked over and contentedly leaned against the rail, "You just told Barbossa you didn't want to stop, and going into Cuba is pretty much a stop, isn't it?"

"Short stop," Jack shrugged, "We won't be there for more than 20 minutes. I just want to run in and pay a visit to Tia, we have some good things to barter, we can get some half decent things from her, for instance, you can get more of them stinkin' Cuban cigars you love so much."

"Who's Tia?" Elizabeth asked.

"Tia Dalma," Jack shrugged, "Old friend of mine. Anyway, why are you so curious? I thought you said you didn't care if we take a detour."

"I don't care," Elizabeth answered, "But hopefully if we stop in Cuba, James will…"

She instantly stopped herself, and knew by Jack's expression, that she had said the wrong thing. Jack smiled, but it wasn't a friendly smile.

"James?" Jack raised an eyebrow, "That guy that I shot at way back when on the dock? You honestly think he's coming to save you?"

"I didn't say…" Elizabeth began, but Jack cut her off.

"You said if we stop in Cuba, James will… James will what?" Jack asked, his mood ready to tip the scale and flip over into anger, "What else could you possibly say? You actually _think_ someone's coming after you?"

Elizabeth opened her mouth, but quickly shut it again. She shook her head and looked down at the deck, hugging herself.

It was silent for a moment, until Will spoke up:

"Well she can be hopeful. I mean, if I was in her position, I'd hope that someone would come for me, but…" he turned and looked at Elizabeth, "I hate to squash your hopes, but I don't think anyone's coming after us. Even if it was their intentions originally, I doubt they went any further than the Florida Keyes."

Elizabeth sighed, and looked away from them.

"This is so ridiculous," she whispered.

"Damn right you are," Jack snapped, "Thinkin' someone's coming to save you. You've been watching too many movies."

Jack walked off, and surprisingly went below decks. Elizabeth was going to ask why, but Will was already filling her in.

"I told you his mood won't last long," Will said lowly, "He's heading down to get some more rum."

"Great," Elizabeth sighed, "I was kind of not minding him as much, aside from his previous comments."

"What about my comment?" Will grinned at her.

"Your comment was rude," Elizabeth said flatly, and received a laugh from Will.

"Rude, huh?" he asked.

"Yes, and it's not funny," Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, "How would you like it if you were in my position and you were kidnapped and some rude pirate squashed your hopes of being rescued?"

"I wouldn't be in your position," Will said, his grin full force across his face, "I doubt anyone would snatch me off a dock."

"Is that a sexist remark?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "You think because you're a man it wouldn't happen to you? Is that it?"

"Elizabeth, calm down," Will shook his head.

"You know, I hate how you're talking to me as if we're friends," Elizabeth looked at him straight in the eye, "Because we're not. You don't see me talking to you in a friendly way; I don't even use your name."

"Well do you want me to be mean?" Will asked, "Want me to beat you around and call you 'Lizzy'? Want me to be like Jack?"

Elizabeth looked him for a moment, despising the fact that he had a very good point. She hesitated, but dully replied, "Well… no."

"Exactly," Will smiled, "I'm not mean like Jack. I can be mean, but I'm not. So think twice next time before you complain about the way I talk to you."

"Alright," Elizabeth snapped, slightly irritated.

In a way, she actually would prefer Will to be mean. It'd make the process of hating him a whole lot easier, because at the moment, hatred for William Turner didn't exist.

--

James stood beside Beckett, as they watched a rather large, speedboat coming tearing through the water towards them. It kicked up a lot of spray as the boat practically skipped across the water, leaving a long white trail of foam behind it.

As it neared, it slowed down to a safer speed, and then began lazily inching towards their boat.

Beckett folded his arms and looked at James.

"There's Sao Feng," he said simply.

As the boat came up alongside theirs, James was able to get a good look at the man driving it. He was tall and bald, with a long stringy beard and bushy eyebrows, and most noticeably, scars tracing along the side of his head. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans that were littered with rips and tears, with the knees of them were completely worn out. He also was wearing a faded tie-dyed t-shirt, and James was quick to pick up on the handgun on his belt.

Sao Feng cut the engine, and the boat bobbed lazily over to theirs, stopping right by the side.

"Hello," Beckett remarked with a grin, "How are you?"

"You sent me on hell of a detour, Cutler," Sao Feng replied, returning the grin. Beckett frowned slightly at the use of his first name, but Sao Feng had already moved on. He stood with his hands on his hips, looking at James.

James timidly looked up at him, and put his hands in his pockets.

"So," Sao Feng scoffed, "You're the one?"

"Yeah," James nodded, "That's me."

"You're willin' to come with me to hunt some pirates?" Sao Feng chuckled, "Beckett didn't tell me much, but all I know is that you got a girlfriend on the line, here, is that right?"

James nodded again.

"Jack Sparrow and the Turner boy," Sao Feng raised his eyebrows, "You know who they are?"

"I've got an idea," James replied.

"Beckett showed you their criminal profiles?"

"Yes."

"Mhm…" Sao Feng said thoughtfully, "You realize that no one has ever caught them?"

"Yes."

"So, if you don't mind my asking, what makes you think we're gonna get them this…"

"Sao Feng," Beckett interrupted, "Please stay on the positive side."

"Alright," Sao Feng rolled his eyes, "Well, kid, what's your name again?"

"James Norrington," James replied, folding his arms.

"Well Mr. Norrington," he said, "Much to my distaste, I guess your coming with me. Get over here."

James nodded, and stood up on the side of the boat and jumped the small space between the two and landed clumsily in Sao Feng's. Sao Feng scoffed, and leaned over to Beckett, "Now, this money you promised me, this is a bribe fee, you understand? It doesn't include the amount you're going to pay me if I get Jack Sparrow or bring the girlfriend back, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Beckett groaned, and stepped back, waving him off, "Get going," he looked at James, "Good luck, and don't get yourself killed."

"Thanks," James smiled, "And I'll try."

Sao Feng started up the engine with a roar, the big motor kicking up a spray. He turned to James.

"You get sea sick?" he asked.

"Uh… sometimes," James replied.

"You'd better sit down, then," Sao Feng grinned, and James had just plunked down into one of the chairs when the boat started forward with a jerk and sped off, pressing him back into the seat. James groaned as he felt his stomach beginning to flop. This was going to be just wonderful.

A/N: Poor James. I always do this to him. Anyway, there it is my lovely readers, Chapter 7. Not as long a wait this time, but I will try to speed it up a little when it comes to writing. I figured I'd be nice and give you guys a chapter before I head back to school this Thursday. What fun, eh? School… -cheers unenthusiastically-

But anyhow, what did you think of this chapter? Good, not good? Let me know. I really had fun building Elizabeth and Will's relationship this chapter, and it's always fun to incorporate a new character! So now, James is with bounty hunter Sao Feng, and they're coming after Elizabeth, and the pirates and their hostage are going to make a quick stop into Cuba, to do a little bargaining with Jack's friend, Tia Dalma. And as always, the Willabeth relationship continues to build!

See you next chapter! - Rinako


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

James knew he was going to throw up. He was just so sick of barfing up his guts, that he casually leaned over the side and just let his body do the rest. He was going to end up looking like a prune if he kept throwing up. His body had only so much fluid… and he hadn't even ate much since the departure, he wondered where in the bloody hell was all the vomit coming from. Oh, it didn't matter; his body was being a rebel, making him look like an absolute fool in front of the newly acquainted bounty hunter Sao Feng, who gave a pitiful glance back at him every few minutes.

The second time James heaved his head up over the side, watching weakly as his vomit disappeared along behind the boat. He couldn't help but feel like he was throwing up his stomach by now. He wouldn't be surprised if he saw it eventually being carried away on the waves.

James sighed deeply, the taste of bile burning the back of his throat. He ran his fingers through his hair, which felt sweaty – he felt sweaty all over. He rested his cheek on the cool railing, and glanced over at Sao Feng, who turned to look at him at the same time. The Chinese man said something, but James didn't hear it over the roar of the big engines behind him.

"What?" James croaked.

"Have some water!" Sao Feng yelled, gesturing with his thumb to a cooler lying on the deck. James nodded, and shimmied his way weakly across the seats to the cooler. He had to be careful not to move too quickly, for his stomach was still wildly flopping. He opened the cooler; it was filled with not just water, but cans of beer as well.

James had no interest in the beer, of course, in the condition he was in. He snatched up the closest water bottle, viciously screwed the cap off and upended the bottle, allowing the cold liquid to run down his burning and dehydrated throat.

After drinking about half of it, James felt better, and braver. He got to his feet and walked up to the wheel to stand beside Sao Feng. He felt somewhat embarrassed that he had thrown up in front of a man he just met. Throwing up wasn't exactly a manly image.

"The sea sickness will pass soon," Sao Feng said, and James was able to hear him easier, "Don't worry about it. Beckett told me you were a little weak in the stomach."

"Normally I'm not," James shrugged, "I don't know why my body is doing this to me, maybe my worry has something to do with it. Elizabeth…" he said more to himself, "I hope she's alright."

Sao Feng didn't respond to this, so James pushed on.

"You said you know Jack Sparrow and the Turner guy?"

"Uhuh," Sao Feng grunted, "I've only been chasing after the two for _years_ now. Sparrow longer than Turner, Turner's just new to the piratin' business. Jack's his mentor. Not exactly a good roll model."

"Why do you think they took Elizabeth?" James shoved the sentence out, and felt better after having asking it. It had been racking his brain for a while, and it was good that Sao Feng was someone that could maybe provide a decent answer.

"Hard to say," Sao Feng narrowed his eyes, "If she was pretty, well that's an answer in itself, wouldn't you think?"

"She's _beautiful_," James said, swallowing the lump in mid-form in his throat, "Would… would they kill her?"

"Jack will kill anyone he pleases," Sao Feng snorted disgustedly.

"But he only killed two…" James began, but Sao Feng instantly cut him off with mean laughter.

"Two?" Sao Feng laughed, "I think he's killed a few more than that. He's not afraid to, either, but I don't think he'd kill your girl. When I heard about this kidnapping, I didn't think it'd be Sparrow, it isn't his style… he doesn't go kidnapping girls, well he used to, but he's getting old now. Unless, Turner kidnapped her… did you see who did?"

"I didn't get a good glimpse," James replied, "I just left Elizabeth alone for a moment… and then next thing I knew they had her, and they shot at me. What could I do? The next thing I knew she was on their boat and they were speeding away."

"I bet it was Turner," Sao Feng nodded, "It's too foolish not to be, it's not something someone of Sparrow's experience would do, taking a girl from a town would obviously result in the police coming after them… or in this case, me. Jack doesn't want anymore people after him, there's enough as it is. But I've been trying to get him for years anyway, so I suppose it's all well, it's just another reason to add to the list of _Why Jack Sparrow Belongs in Jail_. Now if Turner's startin' this stupid stuff, he's gonna start racking up a list too… well I suppose he doesn't need it. Being an accomplice to Jack Sparrow is a reason within itself."

"What would be Turner's intentions with Elizabeth?" James asked fearfully.

"Don't play dumb," Sao Feng snapped, "Do you really need to ask? Just think about it, you are more than capable of coming up with several good answers by yourself."

James shuddered. Sao Feng was absolutely right. The thoughts bothered him, so he quickly changed the subject.

"So where do you think they're taking her?"

"Tortuga would be a good guess. That's where all Jack's kind hang out," Sao Feng snorted, "It may look like a nice little island to tourists, but it's also a goldmine for black-marketing. That's where all the pirates like Jack come to trade, sell and buy their loot."

"You make it sound like the old pirates," James replied, "The ones with the eye patches, parrots and wooden legs."

"They may not have the patches, parrots and wooden legs, Mr. Norrington," Sao Feng grinned, "But their object is still the same. They're modern day pirates. Forget the cannons, 3 masted schooners and parrots. It's more like a hell lotta guns, RPGs and speedboats."

--

"Goddamn it Barbossa, can't you get to Cuba any faster!" Jack shouted, waving his arms and swaggering ridiculously across the deck. He was into the rum again, but wasn't as vicious as he had been previously. The anger was there, but he was too drunk at the moment to be able to walk straight.

He had his long fingers wrapped around the rum bottle, clutching it to his chest like it was a baby with one arm, while the other arm twirled, flapped, waved and swung loosely in its socket, as he rambled on, using it in his gestures.

Elizabeth and Will still sat on the deck chairs. Elizabeth had briefly tried to get some shut-eye, but was instantly awoken when Jack came up on deck, heavily influenced by the alcohol.

She held her head in her hands, looking worn out and tired, like she was watching a movie that she had no interest in whatsoever, although this wasn't a movie, and there was unfortunately no way to escape it.

She had removed the hair band from her hair and let it fall loosely about her shoulders. The hair band was in her fingers and her hair was blowing wildly in the wind, and she didn't care if it blew in her face.

Will's worn out expression was similar, although he was slightly more alert than Elizabeth. He too, had his head in his hands, and both he and Elizabeth watched Jack as he rambled mindlessly and stumbled all over the place.

"Shut your trap, Sparrow!" Barbossa snapped, "We're almost there, and we can't get there any faster. This boat don't bloody well fly."

"Well I wish it would," Jack mumbled to himself, "Fly… I haven't ever flown, you know, always on the water; I've always liked the ocean, never liked planes. If a plane crashes, you can die; if your boat sinks, well you can always swim, unless you get eaten by sharks… hmm… imagine that… I wonder if there are any sharks…" he stumbled over to the railing and looked over the side, "Sharkies? Oh where are you, you bloody man-eating beasts… want some rum? Here… I'm so generous today; I'll give you some nice, Jamaican rum…" Jack smiled crookedly and tipped the bottle and let some rum fall into the water, and laughed, "Don't get drunk now… you'll end up eating a mermaid. Pretty little mermaids, you don't want to hurt them…"

Jack continued in his ramblings to the sharks, and to himself, and seemed oblivious to the world.

Elizabeth looked at Will.

"He's out of his mind," she declared lowly; "I don't think I've ever heard such ridiculous talk in all my life."

Will chuckled, and Elizabeth uncontrollably smiled, but caught herself before she was about to laugh out loud.

"At least he's content," Will shrugged, "He's not pissed at anyone in particular at the moment, so be thankful. And you'll get used to Jack's ramblings. Sharks and mermaids are among the most normal rants that Jack does. Trust me; it gets much, much weirder. A couple of days before we kidnapped you, in fact, Jack got drunk, and got raving on about, get this, he raved for about a solid hour about umbrellas. It wasn't even raining. He had me and Barbossa pissing our pants, we were laughing that hard."

Elizabeth laughed, and Will laughed with her, but she slapped hand to her mouth, and wiped the smile away. Will raised an eyebrow.

"You _can_ laugh, you know."

"I know I can," Elizabeth said quickly, "It's just that I shouldn't. There's nothing funny."

"What are you talking about, you just laughed," Will stared at her, "It was obviously funny. Why shouldn't you laugh?"

"Because I'm not on some pleasure cruise with my friends," Elizabeth snapped, "If I was, then it would be appropriate to laugh, but I'm not. I'm on some boat, in the middle of the Caribbean, in the company of three criminals who call themselves pirates!"

"Come on, quit being like that," Will snapped back, "If I could take you back I would."

"You should have thought of that before you grabbed me off the dock!" Elizabeth raised her voice, "I have a life, you know, I have James, I have my father, I have friends… and just because you don't have a girlfriend, a family or any decent friends, or for that matter, a decent life, doesn't mean you have to try and ruin mine!"

Elizabeth shot up off her chair, and threw the hair elastic at him, and hurried below decks.

Will stooped and picked up the elastic off the deck and saw one of Elizabeth's golden hairs was still attached to it. He exhaled and nodded to himself, and picked the hair off before tucking the elastic in his pocket. He glanced up at saw Barbossa looking down at him with a lopsided grin plastered across his face.

"What?" Will asked, looking momentarily at Jack, who was looking at him as well.

"Nice goin', Turner," Barbossa simply gave him a thumbs-up, and then he turned back to the wheel. Will shook his head and looked at Jack.

"What was that?" Jack asked, swaying momentarily. He had to grab onto the railing to steady himself, "Whaddya say to Lizzy, Will?"

"Nothing," Will said.

"For saying nothin', she seemed pretty mad," Jack drawled, "Can't wait till we get rid o' her."

He slid down to the deck and sat there, leaning against the rail, looking tired. The rum was having a rare effect on him today. His kohl-smothered eyelids fluttered and he muttered,

"Wake me up when we reach Cuba, will ya?"

--

Below deck, Elizabeth was lying on the couch, arms wrapped around her, staring at the ceiling. She had gotten so angry, that her body was shaking. At least she had said what she needed to. She'd taken hold of the right opportunity to say what had been on her mind, but the way she said it, half of her was thinking for some reason that it had been unnecessarily cruel.

Her mind played back the few seconds it took for her to say what she did to Will. Her voice had been shaky, angry, to sum it all up, she had basically told him that he hadn't a life. Elizabeth wasn't normally that rude to people, so one side desperately wanted to take the words back, go up on deck and apologize. It had been rude and uncalled for.

No, it wasn't rude, her other side argued, Will was a no-good pirate who decided to follow Jack around. He made his life the way it was, and she was perfectly in the right to declare he hadn't much of a life. It was true, after all, wasn't it?

Hell, she didn't know! Her other side proposed the true fact that she had only known Will for a short time and had no idea who his friends were, if he had a family, or if he indeed did have a life, so to speak. She knew basically nothing about him, besides the fact that he was a "modern day pirate" and that he liked to smoke cigars.

She knew more about Jack that she did Will.

_Go up and apologize_.

The thought dashed into Elizabeth's mind but her more negative thoughts quickly shoved that one out again. She didn't have to apologize, for what? If anyone had to apologize, it'd be Will! He kidnapped her, after all!

"I hate him," Elizabeth spoke out loud, "I hate him. I may not think I do but I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate Will Turner."

Satisfied, she allowed that thought to sit there in her mind, and repeat itself over and over again. _I hate Will Turner_. Hate wasn't something nice, but she couldn't let herself slip and start befriending the man that kidnapped her. No way in hell.

Since she was in her hating mood, she continued out loud:

"I hate Jack, too, and Barbossa. I hate them all. I hate them with a passion. I hate them. I HATE THEM!"

Elizabeth screamed the last word, she wasn't mad, but she just felt like yelling. Ah yes, she exhaled and it felt good to get that off her chest.

She expected to hear footsteps coming down the stairs, see Jack come in any minute raving crazily and Will behind him, in full support… but there were no footsteps, no Jack, no Will, no yelling.

Elizabeth thought of James. She wondered if he _was_ coming after her… but how? Jack and Will were probably right… no one was coming for her…

No! They were wrong! Jack was a miserable drunk and Will was an idiot. They didn't know anything.

James was coming for her. She knew it, and she couldn't wait for when he arrived. She'd be rescued, Jack, Will and Barbossa would be arrested, and she'd be home again.

Elizabeth dozed off to these happy thoughts.

xxxxxxx

2 HOURS LATER

When Elizabeth awoke, there was a strange stillness. Everything was so still… there was no rocking of the boat, no roar of the engine, nothing. It was still. For a moment, she wasn't sure what was happening, but then she heard voices from above.

She shot up off the couch, looking up at the ceiling, straining to hear the voices, a sudden excitement filling her chest. Had rescue arrived? Were the police up there now, slapping the cuffs on her kidnappers and reading them their rights?

With her heart in her throat, Elizabeth forgot about stretching or yawning, and got to her feet, and walked slowly towards the stairs heading up onto the deck, making her steps as quiet as possible, trying her best to hear what was going on.

Suddenly she heard quick, heavy footsteps thudding down the stairs, and Elizabeth froze, and held her breath. She prayed she'd see James come whipping around the corner…

But it wasn't James.

It was Will.

They stared at each other for a moment, but then Will regained his concentration, and reached for Elizabeth's arm, but she jerked it away.

"Go away," she said.

But Will grabbed her arm anyway and gave her a tug towards him, as he half turned to walk up the stairs.

"Come on, we're in Cuba," Will snapped, "Jack gave you two options, you can come with us, or we'll lock you down here."

Elizabeth stayed put.

"Lock me down here then," she said, looking into his eyes challengingly. Will gave her a little smirk, and easily pulled her from the room, slammed the door shut and locked it. Elizabeth stared at him, her mouth hanging open.

"You idiot!" She cried, "I said lock me in, not lock me out!"

"You honestly think I'd leave you behind?" Will raised an eyebrow, and he gave her a shove up the stairs, "Not a chance. We're not going to treat you like a prisoner."

"Last time I checked, I thought I was one," Elizabeth snapped, quickly going up the stairs onto the deck. Will shook his head, smirking to himself. He let out a big sigh and followed her.

A/N: I told you guys I'd be updating sooner!! You love me, right? Haha, anyway, there you have it. Chapter 8, basically a huge builder for Elizabeth and Will's relationship… this is getting interesting, even I'm excited. So, why I updated so fast? I basically figured out the rest of the story. I mean before I was kind of writing this in a improv mode, make it up as I went along, you know, but last night at 11:00, a lot of juicy ideas came to me. I originally started writing the chapter before the ideas, but now that they're in my head, I wanted to finish it sooner! Hope you enjoyed this one!

See you all next chapter! - Rinako


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Elizabeth felt nothing but irritation as she stepped out onto the deck, but the emotion was soon forgotten when she saw the scenery. They were no longer on open water, but docked in a port along with other boats. Their boat clearly stuck out like a sore thumb, for the rest of them weren't nearly half the size or even being close to the luxury of theirs.

Some of them were wooden, even. Elizabeth looked past them and onto the beach. It was beautiful white sand, palm trees, and she was surprised to see that this was a little village, not even close to being what she had suspected.

There were about 50 to 100 houses and buildings clustered not 100 feet from the beach. The roads were dirt, and a few cars were visible. Mostly, though, the people were biking or walking. From what Elizabeth could see, this was a bustling little place, with little roadside markets and souvenir shops.

"What do ya think?" she heard Will's voice, and it grated on her nerves. She saw him come up beside her out of the corner of her eye. He folded his arms and looked at her, "Nice place, this little village is, huh?"

"Yes," Elizabeth answered, trying to sound uninterested, although she really was. Even if she was here with a bunch of fugitive pirates, it _was_ her first time to Cuba – first time out of the United States to be exact – and she couldn't help but be excited.

Jack and Barbossa, she realized, were already down on the dock, standing together, talking with a Cuban man wearing just a pair of shorts. If these people here were friends with Jack, Elizabeth felt her heart sink a little. That probably meant they were a lot like him.

Jack turned around, and waved at her and Will.

"Lizzy, William, get down here!" he shouted, smiling. He seemed to be in a very _good_ mood.

Elizabeth walked across the deck to the gangplank leading down onto the dock. She looked back at Will, but he gestured politely with his arm in a wide sweep and did a little bow.

"Ladies before gents," He said with a grin.

"You're clearly not a gentleman," Elizabeth remarked as she walked unsurely down the gangplank, and she heard Will laugh. He clattered quickly down the gangplank and jumped onto the dock, and he looked at Elizabeth, who was standing there in one spot.

He smiled.

"Feels strange doesn't it?" He asked, "To have steady ground beneath your feet, hm?"

"It feels like its still rocking…" Elizabeth smiled amusingly, but she quickly erased it from her face before Will could get a good look at it.

Will walked over towards Jack, and Elizabeth followed him, wobbling slightly. Will quickly whispered something lowly to Jack and Barbossa, and they turned to look at Elizabeth.

"You'll get over that eventually, love," Jack remarked with a chuckle.

Elizabeth looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't make fun of me," she said, and looked at Will, "Stop telling them I'm stumbling!"

"Ah, take a bloody joke, lass," Barbossa smiled.

"Who is she?" the Cuban man standing beside Jack asked.

"Miss Elizabeth Swann," Jack introduced her, "William's girl, he snatched her up in the Keys."

They all laughed at this, except for Elizabeth of course. She contemplated yelling in protest, but she simply clenched her fists then released them, and heaved a big sigh, rolling her eyes.

"Hello, Miss Swann," the Cuban man said with a smile, extending a hand towards her, "I'm Juan, an old friend of Jack's."

Elizabeth hesitated but she shook hands to be polite.

"It's Elizabeth's first time in Cuba," Will explained, "We're dragging her along until we reach Tortuga."

"I'd keep an eye out if you're heading there," Juan said, looking at each of them individually, "Feng showed his face around here a few weeks ago. Lookin' for ya Jack… he was snooping around, asking people about you."

"The miserable git," Jack narrowed his kohl-smothered eyes, "I swear, if I live long enough to kill another man, Sao Feng is next."

"Who is Sao Feng?" Elizabeth asked.

"Long story, no time, love," Jack waved her question away, "We have to get moving! I came here to see Tia Dalma…"

"Oh, she'll be glad to see you," Juan replied, "So, what do you want me to get for you, while you go see her?"

"Gas and Cuban cigars, for Will, of course," Jack said, "Some ammo for my 9 mil, and the rest I'll be able to get from Tia Dalma."

"Sure thing," Juan smiled, "It'll be on the boat for you when you guys get back."

Jack grinned, and patted him on the shoulder, "I can always count on you, old friend." Then he looked to Barbossa, Will and Elizabeth, "Come on."

He waved them forward, and as Juan started walking off, Jack called after him, "We can borrow your boat, eh?"

"Of course," Juan answered.

Elizabeth frowned, ugh, not another boat. She had just begun to relish the land beneath her feet, now Jack wanted to get back on the water.

She looked at Will, and he smiled at her, although she wasn't about to return it. She looked over and saw Barbossa climb into a little motor boat, and climb back to man the outboard.

Jack waved her and Will over, and Will happily walked forwards and climbed into the boat. Elizabeth suddenly thought about running for it, but she remembered Jack's gun tucked cleverly in his belt, and decided against the idea.

"Come on, Lizzy," Jack walked towards her and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side of the dock, "Get in the bloody boat already."

Elizabeth was unsure of the rocking thing, and was very hesitant to step into it, but it was if Will had read her mind, for he suddenly held his hand out to her.

"Need some help?" Will asked.

Elizabeth let out a sigh, and then took his hand, it was warm and he had a firm grip. He held her hand steadily, as she stepped down into the boat. It tipped slightly upon her entrance, but Will kept her from losing her balance. She quickly sat down beside him.

"You didn't tip it," Will flashed a smile at her, "Good job."

Elizabeth realized he was still holding her hand, and she quickly jerked her hand from his grasp. She met his eyes for a moment, and then looked away. He didn't say anything.

Jack stooped and undid the mooring, then stepped into the boat. He pushed off to get it started away from the dock, then climbed over Elizabeth and Will to sit up front. Barbossa started up the outboard, it sputtered to life with a growl of protest, and they slowly started away from the dock.

"Where does this Tia Dalma live?" Elizabeth asked, aiming the question at Jack, but he was turned away from her, and unfortunately Will was eager to answer her instead.

"Up the creek, not far from here," Will answered, leaning close to her ear because the loud engine, "She is kind of a mysterious woman, creepy when you first meet her. She's known Jack long before I have."

Elizabeth nodded, and was glad when Will leaned back out of her space. His breath had tickled her ear and it sent unwanted shivers down her spine.

A creepy woman living up a creek… that sounded about right to be one of Jack Sparrow's associates. With Elizabeth's luck, this Tia Dalma would probably be some deranged drunkard 18th century pirate wannabe, too.

Elizabeth studied Jack, who didn't appear to be drunk at the moment. He sat up very straight at the bow of the boat, his dreadlocks and faded bandana blowing in the wind, as they sped along the cove.

He was studying the land, his eyes were squinted despite his kohl, and for a moment, he looked like an 18th century pirate. Just the expression on his face and the way he was perched up at the bow, he looked like some pirate captain.

Just give him a hat and the old clothes and he could easily be slapped into the pirate section in Elizabeth's history textbook.

While Elizabeth was studying Jack, she figured she mind-as-well look at the others too. She glanced back at Barbossa, and he was pretty much a pirate. His scraggily beard, long hair, un-brushed teeth, and the golden hoop earring just screamed pirate. Just minus the blue tinted sunglasses, Barbossa could easily be put in the textbook alongside Jack.

Elizabeth wanted to look at Will, but didn't dare. It would only result in him looking at her and giving her another one of those confusing smiles that were almost impossible to read. She didn't want to see that smile ever again; it annoyed her to no end.

They arrived at what must be the creek, for Barbossa slowed the engine and turned the boat, and they started moving up the creek. Almost instantly, a canopy of trees shadowed over them like they had just floated into a tunnel.

The further they went down the creek, the darker and more jungle-like it got. Elizabeth could hear animals and birds within the trees, and she felt somewhat intimidated as the boat crept through the murky water.

She didn't even realize until her arm touched his that she had been inching towards Will. Upon contact, they both looked at each other, and Elizabeth quickly shot him down with a don't-touch-me look – as if it was him who had bumped into her – and shimmied to the other side of the boat, as far away from Will as possible, and studied the trees as they slowly went by them.

Suddenly, Elizabeth spotted a big, ugly snake curled up on a branch overhanging the creek, and it was not even a foot above her head. She let out a scream, and instantly flew back, once again bumping into Will.

Will, Jack and Barbossa all jumped at her scream, and Will was even more surprised when Elizabeth landed half on his lap.

"Jesus, Lizzy, it's just a bloody snake," Jack looked back over his shoulder at her with a grin. He watched they passed by the branch it was on, "It's a boa. They can't hurt you."

Barbossa laughed and shook his head.

Elizabeth felt her cheeks turn red in embarrassment, and she realized she was leaning back against Will's chest.

"You can stay there if it makes you feel any better," Will said with a chuckle. Jack looked back at her and then up at Will and raised an eyebrow.

"She looks quite comfortable, don't you think?" Jack grinned.

Elizabeth shot up and away from Will, hugging herself, still shivering from the encounter with the boa.

"That's b.s," Elizabeth snapped, "It was just a reaction, that's all."

"Oh, you hear that, Will?" Jack laughed, "Every time she's scared, she'll run to you."

"That's not what I said!" Elizabeth cried in desperation, "If you think I'd purposely get close to Will, you're crazy. He's repulsive as that snake."

"That snake wasn't repulsive," Will raised an eyebrow, "He was cute. Like me."

Jack and Barbossa laughed, but Elizabeth sighed, and for a moment, thought about jumping out of the boat, but the idea was forgotten when she noticed a wooden shack, built into a mangrove tree, high above the creek. It wasn't the only one, the further they came into this cove in the creek, the more of these "tree houses" came into view.

It looked so primitive, Elizabeth was taken aback.

"What bloody house be hers?" Barbossa grunted from the back.

"That one, over there," Jack pointed to the largest house over to the right. Jack caught Elizabeth's eye and grinned at her.

"Not what you were expecting is it?" he asked.

Elizabeth shook her head dumbly.

Barbossa guided the motor boat over to a wooden dock, and cut the engine. Jack jumped out, and pointed down at the boat floor.

"Throw me that rope," he told Elizabeth, "By your feet."

Elizabeth bent to get it, but Will had already snatched up the rope and had thrown it over to Jack, who wound it around one of the posts, and Will tied the rope to the front gunwale, then he jumped out, and turned and offered his hand to Elizabeth.

"Suppose you need my help getting out too," Will said, but Elizabeth stood up, and clumsily climbed out onto the dock, ignoring his hand extended out to her. Will raised an eyebrow, but folded his arms, "Okay, so you proved a point."

"Let's go," Jack said, seeming rather impatient, "You coming, Barbossa?"

"Nah," Barbossa replied with a shake of his head, "I'll stay here."

"Fine," Jack replied, and he walked over to a rickety looking wooden ladder leading up to the house, and began to climb up it. Will offered for Elizabeth to go second, but she firmly declined. Will sighed and climbed up after Jack.

Elizabeth was suspicious of the ladder and watched uncertainly as the rungs bent slightly under Will's weight, but she heaved a sigh and climbed up herself.

When she reached the top, a strange smell filled her nose, and she pulled herself up and got to her feet, beside Will and Jack, who were standing outside the closed door to the house.

"Think she's home?" Will asked lowly, but Jack pushed open the door, and instantly, a woman's accented voice rung out through the air.

"Jack, you've come to see me again!"

Will was the next to enter the house, and Elizabeth followed timidly. She felt like she didn't belong here at all.

From behind Will, Elizabeth snuck her first peek of Tia Dalma. She had long hair, dread-locked like Jack's, black make up on her lips and an old dress that looked outdated, like it belonged in the 18th century.

She was currently accepting a hug from Jack, and was smiling. That's when Elizabeth noticed that her teeth were almost black, and she was suddenly revolted by the sight.

Tia Dalma pulled back from Jack's hug, and then greeted Will.

"William Turner," she smiled, "and you've come to pay me another visit as well…"

She trailed off, when she saw Elizabeth. Her eyes widened, and she shoved Will out of the way with her arm, flying towards Elizabeth in a few quick steps. Uncertain, Elizabeth stepped backwards.

"A young woman," Tia Dalma raised her eyebrow, not taking her eyes off Elizabeth. She raised her hand and brushed her cheek, which made Elizabeth feel uncomfortable, "Sweet and innocent are you, Elizabeth Swann. You don't be fittin' in with these two at all… you stick out like a sore thumb."

"How do you know my name?" Elizabeth asked, but Tia Dalma ignored her and turned abruptly to Jack and Will.

"Which one of you took her, hm?" she asked, but it must have been a rhetorical question, for she turned right to Will, "William Turner, shame on you, you be dragging her into a world she doesn't belong in…"

Tia Dalma walked past Will and Jack, to a table, where she dropped into a chair, looking at Will, then Jack.

"You know, I've been sensing trouble be coming your way, Jack Sparrow," Tia Dalma declared, "And I didn't know what it was, until now. Her!" Tia gestured at Elizabeth.

"Me?" Elizabeth replied, feeling Will and Jack's eyes suddenly on her.

"Yes, girl, you," Tia Dalma said matter-of-factly, "That someone… James… Norrington, must care a lot about you, hm?"

Elizabeth stared in horror.

"How do you know about James?" she cried.

Tia Dalma just smiled. Jack stepped towards Elizabeth.

"What sort of trouble?" he demanded.

"I… don't…" Elizabeth began, but Tia Dalma cut her off.

"The boy James, he be coming for her," Tia Dalma answered, "As we speak."

"James?" Elizabeth cried, unable to hold back a smile, "You're serious?"

The mood instantly soured. Jack suddenly whipped out his gun, and pointed it at Elizabeth.

"Well James won't find anything," he growled.

Elizabeth froze, but Will jumped in between her and Jack.

"Jack, don't do this," Will snapped.

"Why shouldn't I?" Jack demanded.

Tia Dalma was up out of her chair, and she was leaning over his shoulder.

"Jack, that wouldn't be wise of you," Tia Dalma reached up and grabbed on hold of the gun, "You're just stressed, you don't want to be killin' her."

Jack sighed, and loosened his grip on the gun, and Tia Dalma took it and threw it onto the table. Will and Elizabeth relaxed and exchanged glances.

"It's _your_ fault, Will," Jack snapped, "You took her."

"But what type of problem could this boyfriend of hers pose?" Will asked, "He looked like a sniveling wimp when you shot at him back on the dock."

"A bigger problem than you think," Tia Dalma interjected, folding her arms, "The boy himself may not be much of a threat, but who he's with might be a little more of a concern to you two."

Jack and Will exchanged glances, and then turned to look at Elizabeth, who shrugged in confusion. Who was James with that was such a threat?

Elizabeth met Will's eyes, and saw a strange emotion in them, like almost one of apology, or regret, but with a blink, it was gone and his eyes let no emotion in or out.

Jack sighed, leaning back against the wall, and he put his hands in his pockets. Without raising his head, he looked at Elizabeth, then Will, then rested his eyes upon Tia Dalma.

"Who's the concern?" he asked lowly.

"Sao Feng."

--

"How far to we have to go?" James asked, feeling a bit better. His stomach had calmed down with the water that had been provided, and he had regained a bit of color back in his cheeks.

"A while yet," Sao Feng replied, "But we're going to make a stop soon, at a place where you're _friends_ might have stopped in for some resupplying of fuel. We're going to have to do the same."

"You mean we might be able to catch them?" James cried, feeling his excitement soar.

"Perhaps, but don't get all up in arms over it yet. This little place in Cuba, Sparrow has a lot of associates, and I mean a lot – people that give him basically whatever he wants, and not just gas and food, I'm talking weapons. And if we catch 'em while they're still there, Jack won't give up without a fight. And a well-supplied fight, if you know what I mean."

"That's just great," James sighed.

--

Elizabeth felt the atmosphere of the room instantly grow cold and uncomfortable – and deathly quiet, so quiet that she could hear her heart in her ears, when it wasn't even pounding that hard.

She saw Jack's face instantly transform. His eyebrows furrowed, his mouth grew into a straight, expressionless line and his eyes narrowed so much, they almost looked like they were closed. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, looking from Tia Dalma, to her, to Will, then back to Tia Dalma with a dangerous gleam in his eye.

Elizabeth stiffened, preparing herself for an explosion. She glanced at Will, and he was looking at Jack with the same expectant expression. He looked on edge, like he was prepared to tackle Jack if the situation arose into something ugly.

Jack exhaled, and Elizabeth cringed, waiting for the onslaught of sudden anger come flying out in curses and yelling, but he simply said, in a low, surprisingly controlled voice:

"Sao Feng?"

Tia Dalma nodded.

Jack raised his eyebrows, and looked up to Elizabeth.

"You're little boyfriend has one hell of a resource list," He snapped coldly.

"But… I don't even know who this Sao Feng is…" Elizabeth replied, "And James never mentioned him to me."

"He's a bounty hunter," Tia Dalma replied, taking over for Jack, "He targets the pirates like Jack and William… especially Jack and William. He's been after them for years."

Jack shot away from the wall,

"We've got to move," he said quickly, "We need to get out of here, before he arrives. Tia Dalma, I need money, the usual."

She nodded.

"What I do for you, Jack Sparrow," she sighed, and walked over to a chest sitting on a table, unlocked it and took out two handfuls of cash. She crossed the room and placed the bills into Jack's grimy hand, remarking, "I don't have any use for this anyway."

"You're a dear," Jack smiled, stuffing the bills into his pocket and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Tia Dalma smiled.

"Anytime, Jack," she leaned on the table.

"Let's go," Jack said, and headed for the door, Will and Elizabeth turning to follow.

"Wait," Tia suddenly said, and they all turned to look at her.

"Why don't you just leave Elizabeth here with me?" Tia Dalma raised her eyebrow, "Get the trouble off your hands, and when Sao Feng arrives, I'll give her over to her boyfriend and she can go home happy. A sweet and innocent girl like her deserves nothing less."

Elizabeth smiled, "Would you really…"

But suddenly Will grabbed onto her arm.

"She knows too much," Will replied, "But thank you anyway."

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth cried, "This is your opportunity to get rid of me! I can go home, and Sao Feng wouldn't have any need to come after you!"

"Darling, he's coming after us anyway," Jack replied, "Come on, Will."

Elizabeth looked back over her shoulder at Tia Dalma, feeling tears coming to her eyes. She was _this _close to going home… so close…

Jack walked out the door, and Will followed, jerking Elizabeth along with him. Elizabeth leaned back on her heels and resisted.

"No! Don't make me go back with you!" Elizabeth was screaming now, "I want to go home!"

Will turned to look at her, taking her by both wrists.

"Shut up," he commanded, "Your coming with us."

Elizabeth bit her lip in disbelief and looked back over her shoulder at Tia Dalma. Tia _smiled_ at her, and said:

"Down both paths child, you be having good destiny."

Elizabeth stared at her in confusion at her words, and went to speak, but Will jerked her out of the house, closing the door with a slam.

--

A/N: There's chapter 9 done and under my belt! Alright, I am so sorry lately for being inconsistent with my updating, but I've been busy… I know this may sound old and repetitive, but it's the truth. However, I promise I will try to become more consistent in the updates.

Anyway, about the chapter, this one was interesting to write. I gave Sao Feng and James only a short scene this time, since the main focus is Elizabeth and Will's developing relationship, which is getting better each chapter! And, as many of you have expressed in reviews, Jack is quite a hate-able character in this story so-far, but he'll improve! Promise! And finally, Tia Dalma's last wise but confusing words to Elizabeth is a big hint about her future, and she'll be pondering over them in the next chapter…

Once again, sorry for the wait, see you all next chapter! - Rinako


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Will practically pulled Elizabeth down the ladder from the tree house down onto the dock, and then pushed her gently into the boat. Elizabeth was furious, and felt like jumping into the murky water of the creek and swimming home, despite that idea being an impossible feat.

She sat down in the boat, and heard Will get in after her, and Jack was the last one in like before. She felt her heart sinking, and every part of her wanted to burst into tears. It was so selfish of Will to want to keep her with him, when she could go home. He was never sorry he took her off the dock, Elizabeth decided; he had taken her for his own selfish gain. Gain? He would gain nothing.

"I hate him," Elizabeth thought, not daring to say it out loud right then. Oh, but how she wanted to. How she wanted to scream hateful words at Will's face, hell, wait, not just Will, but Jack and Barbossa too. She _hated _them all.

"How was it?" Barbossa asked no one in particular, "That ol' witch still as creepy as ever?"

Jack frowned, sitting down and tossing the rope onto the bottom of the boat. He ignored Barbossa's words completely.

"We need to move, start the engine up and get the hell out of here."

"Why?" Barbossa asked.

"Just go!" Jack yelled, his voice echoing off the trees. Elizabeth jumped, and hugged herself tighter, closing her eyes. She hated this.

Barbossa shrugged, seeming more curious than intimidated, and started up the engine. The boat jerked to life and Barbossa began steering it lazily around to get out the way they came.

"Fast as you can," Jack snapped. He was huddled at the bow, looking jumpy and on edge, his eyes meaning business, "None of this five-mile-per-hour shit, I want out of this goddamned creek."

Barbossa sighed, and replied over the sound of the motor:

"Alright, but its yer bloody fault if we hit some root or somethin' and wreck Juan's boat."

They were out of the creek in what seemed to be less than five minutes, without hitting any roots or other obstacles. Elizabeth felt somewhat relieved when she felt the full sun hit her skin again, but it didn't do much to help raise her mood into something of happiness.

Elizabeth glanced over at Will as the boat sped across the open water. His expression looked almost pained, his eyes were squinted, his mouth was boasting a frown, and his forehead was wrinkled due to his crumpled eyebrows.

They pulled up to the dock, and Juan was there waiting for them. He helped Jack out of the boat, and Jack mumbled a thank you. He leaned over and said something to Juan, probably about Sao Feng, and Juan nodded.

Elizabeth sat there in the boat, staring out at the sea, as Will climbed out, then Barbossa. She wanted to sit there, but Will was standing there waiting.

"We're in a hurry, come on," He said, and he leaned over and grabbed Elizabeth by the wrist. Elizabeth clenched her jaw and allowed Will to pull her out of the boat and walk across the dock, up the gangplank and onto the yacht.

She felt like giving up. She mind as well. Sure, James was coming for her, but it felt like she was never _ever_ going home.

Will stopped, still holding Elizabeth by the arm, waiting for Jack as he said a few quick words to Juan. Barbossa was already up at the wheel, ready to leave.

"Come on, Jack!" Barbossa shouted, "It was you who wanted to get outa here!"

Jack nodded, and said a goodbye to Juan, then jogged up the gangplank, onto the deck, then pulled up the gangplank. Juan untied the couple of moorings, and then Barbossa started up the engine, and they started backing away from the dock.

Will dropped Elizabeth's arm, and folded his arms on his chest. He turned to look at her.

"Now onto Tortuga, huh?" He smiled, but Elizabeth didn't even look at him, let alone reply.

Jack, who was walking by them, paused for a moment. He looked at Elizabeth, then at Will.

"She's pissed at you," Jack raised an eyebrow, "Incase you haven't figured that out yet, William. Now, I gotta check this cargo… and then go get drunk."

He swaggered off down the stairs below deck.

Will sighed, and lightly touched Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Please don't be…" he began, but Elizabeth cut him off.

"Don't you dare touch me!" She shrieked, "You drunken selfish pig!"

She backed away from him, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, and then she turned and ran down below decks.

Will cursed to himself, and then stopped, and smirked, when he remembered he had locked the door to the kitchenette room. He heard Elizabeth's scream of frustration as she realized the same thing. Several loud slams of her foot, and maybe her fists hitting the door sounded not long afterwards.

Barbossa looked down at Will.

"You got a wild animal, I hope ye realize that, Will," Barbossa growled, "And we ain't helpin' ya deal with 'er."

Will was just about to head towards the stairs, when Elizabeth came flying up on deck, her face pale, and her eyes red with tears.

"You unlock that door! Right now!" She demanded, still screaming.

"I thought you wanted to be locked out, not locked in," Will said calmly, "I guess you want to stay, then?"

"No, I don't want to stay here!!" Elizabeth snapped in frustration, her voice lowering to a dangerous, threatening tone, "I want to go the bloody well home! Not stay here with a bunch of drunken misfit pirate wannabes like you! Wait; make that selfish, drunken misfit pirate wannabes. You don't give a damn about anyone else but yourself. I could have been taken off your hands, Will, I could have been picked up by James, and taken home, to where I belong. But no, you want me to stay here with you, for what reason I'm not sure. Oh I hope Sao Feng finds you, and you're all arrested and charged with the death penalty, because that's what you deserve…"

Will walked towards her, grabbed her flailing arms, and pulled her close to him, and silenced her lunatic raving with a kiss. Her lips were soft against his, and the kiss would have been almost perfect, until he felt her tear her lips away from his, and a hot, burning sting as her hand made dead-on contact with his left cheek.

It stunned him, and he stared as she squirmed away from him, looking absolutely horrified. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes wide, glued to his. She looked almost timid, like she was surprised that she had just slapped him, but that only lasted for a second, until her anger took over. She stared at him.

"How dare you," she whispered, and then raised her voice, "How dare you…"

She turned, and almost ran into Jack as he was coming up the stairs, a bottle of rum in one hand. She brushed past him, and disappeared below decks, and Will was confused when he heard the door slam.

He looked to Jack and saw a ring of keys dangling from his index finger. He swung them around once, and then tossed them to Will. He caught them, looking questioningly at Jack.

"They fell out of your pocket, found them in Juan's boat," Jack said simply, "Now mind as well let her go where she wants, eh? She's confined enough. Her raving was startin' to get on me nerves…"

He turned and went to climb up the ladder to the wheelhouse, and then he paused, and looked over his shoulder at Will.

"Your cheek is awfully red, by the way."

--

Elizabeth made a b-line for the couch and fell onto it, shaking uncontrollably. She rolled onto her stomach, burying her face into the arm of the couch, her breaths coming too quickly and leaving her heaving like she had just run a race. She clamped her eyes shut, but she was too angry and too shocked by what just happened to hold back tears. They came despite her efforts and poured down her cheeks. She lay there, sobbing quietly for a long time, waiting for her body to calm down. Finally, she heaved a big raspy sigh and rolled onto her side, wiping the tears from her eyes and face and brushing the hair that had stuck to her cheeks away.

Elizabeth was terribly confused. As if what had already happened been enough, now Will had to complicate things more by kissing her. She clenched her fists, and released them, sighing again. He kissed her, he grabbed her during mid-rant and kissed her – and she had slapped him. Elizabeth held out the had she had struck him with and looked at it through teary eyes. Her palm was red, and her fingers tingled.

She must have hit him harder than she realized. It was just reflex, and she hadn't really thought about it, she just did it. The memory, even now was foggy. The moment Will's lips had touched hers it was like he had done something to her, impaired her senses. For a moment, she hadn't even moved, she went completely limp, but luckily, her brain kicked in and she had slapped him.

Had Jack seen her? She remembered having passed him on the stairs. If he had seen – or heard the scene, he didn't let on. He had unlocked the door for her and that was all she had cared about at the moment.

She felt absolutely miserable. Elizabeth rolled over onto her back, looking at the ceiling. She could hear footsteps above on the deck, either Jack or Will walking about. If it was Will, she hoped he'd stay up there.

For a moment, she indulged in self-praise. She had actually slapped him… maybe that would get a message across to Will.

His action was so brainless, or it seemed to Elizabeth. He knew she had a boyfriend, he knew she had no desire to even be associated with "pirates" if she had any choice in the matter.

Choice, that was the one thing that she had very little of ever since she'd been kidnapped. Well, not like it was to be expected, anyhow. However, she did have a choice on who she'd be kissing – and she had no intentions to kiss anyone, except James.

In a moment of confession, Elizabeth did make a side note that he seemed to be a good kisser, which would have been a good thing _if_ he hadn't kidnapped her, he wasn't a criminal and she wasn't already in a relationship.

Even though she and James hadn't much time to build much of a relationship, Elizabeth was loyal.

After these thoughts, a realization crept up on her. Will had been the nicest to her out of the three aboard, and had defended her multiple times from Jack. Now, she wondered, would that slap destroy what little "relationship" they had?

Would Will defend her now?

She highly doubted it, and this made her feel worse. Now she was… no, she wouldn't regret slapping him. She just couldn't, it was simple, she was just too nice for her own good.

Thirty minutes slowly crawled by, and Elizabeth continued to just lay there on the couch, almost lost in her own thoughts. She was thinking of what Tia Dalma had last said to her.

From what Elizabeth was able to figure out, Tia Dalma had basically said, whomever she stays with, whether it be the pirates or James… she would be happy.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about," Elizabeth sighed aloud to herself, "It's ridiculous. How could I ever be happy with…"

She trailed off when the door opened, instantly nervous, but she quickly pushed that away and decided calm would be her new-found emotion for this situation. She folded her arms on her stomach and just lay there on the couch like some patient getting psychology treatment.

Her stomach did an uncomfortable flip when Will strode in. She watched him as he glanced at her, stepping fully into the room and closing the door softly behind him. He was no longer wearing the bandana; it was tied around his wrist again. His hair was just down, looking tangled. Elizabeth felt like telling him to brush it, but decided against it.

Will walked towards her, and Elizabeth felt her nervousness getting worse. She stared at him, as he folded his arms on his chest and looked down at her, standing right by the couch.

She shifted uncomfortably on the couch, and crossed her legs and put her hands behind her head.

"You've calmed down?" Will asked.

"What do you think?" she replied, looking away from him, "I'm not screaming or trashing the place, so obviously."

If he's expecting an apology, she thought, he's not getting one.

"Still mad at me?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, shaking her head at his stupidity.

"No, I've forgiven you, Will," she snapped sarcastically, "You want me to bow before you or something, your Highness?" When he didn't reply to that, she added, "I'm not going to forgive you, so don't go expecting it."

"I just needed some way to shut you up," Will smirked, "And kissing you was the first thing that came to mind…"

"Oh that's wonderful," Elizabeth said, sitting up, "That just proves you're perverted."

She shoved him lightly out of the way and walked past him towards the kitchenette.

"I can make you something, if you want," Will offered, "We can't exactly get take-out or something, so…"

"I'm quite capable of making my own meal," she replied sharply, "I'm seventeen years old, and besides, I wouldn't dare touch anything you made."

Will sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You're this mad at me because I kissed you?" he asked, "That's pretty immature."

"No, I'm not mad at you just because you kissed me," Elizabeth spun around to face him, the immature comment getting her attention – just like he figured it would, "You kidnapped me, first of all, let's not forget that, you kissed me, you invaded my privacy, and you won't let me go home. That's not one bit immature, Will."

"We're going to be in Tortuga within the next day," Will replied, "I'm sorry that I kidnapped you, alright, but you're not going home."

"You want to bet on that?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, leaning back against the counter, "Last time I checked, people are coming for me. James is bloody well on his way, accompanied with Sao Feng, and you, William Turner, will not stand a chance."

"It's a bet," Will smiled, and held out his hand.

Elizabeth hesitated, but shook on it. She went to pull away her hand, but Will held it in a firm grip.

"What are we betting on?" Will asked.

"Nothing," Elizabeth replied darkly, looking into his eyes warningly, "I don't think you'll care much about foolish bets when I'm on my way home and you're on your way to death row. Now let go of my hand before I slap you again. I'm not afraid to."

"I was surprised the first time," Will told her, "Because I wasn't expecting it, but now, you can slap me until I'm silly. I'll let go of you when I please."

"No," Elizabeth clenched her teeth, "You'll let me go when I ask you."

She felt intimidated, but wasn't about to show it. Will was stronger than her, and he was right, she could slap him, but if he was determined to hold onto her, he would.

Will took a step closer to her, and Elizabeth couldn't back up, she was pressed back against the counter, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. She looked right into his eyes.

"Stop right now," she whispered.

Will released his grip on her hand, and put his hands on both sides of Elizabeth on the counter top. He sighed, and slouched a little, looking around the room before back at her.

"I'm not that kind of man, Elizabeth," He said quietly, "If I thought in Jack's drunken mentality, then perhaps yes."

Elizabeth was disgusted. This was his idea of self-assurance? If he told her he wasn't a rapist, it made everything okay? Was she supposed to forget everything else he'd done, and praise him because he wasn't going to rape her when it was a perfect opportunity?

"You're a pig," Elizabeth whispered back.

"Did you hear what Tia Dalma said to you before we left?" Will seemed to ignore her insult. Elizabeth sighed and tried to duck out of his arms, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her until she met his gaze again and repeated, "Did you?"

"Yes."

"Tia Dalma's no psycho," Will said, "She knew your name, she knew your boyfriends name, and what happened to you. She did the same thing to me when I first met her; rhymed off my name and my back-story like she had known me for years."

"So what?" Elizabeth snapped.

"She's no ordinary woman," Will replied, "Rumor has it that she's been alive since the 18th century. Believe me; ask Jack, he'll tell you. She knows names, she knows the past, and she knows the future."

"She wasn't predicting the future," Elizabeth replied harshly, "She just said a few words that aren't true. I think I know, because I'm quite aware of who I'm happy with and who I'm not."

Will looked at her without saying anything for a while, and then stepped back, putting his hands in his pockets. He headed towards the door.

"Make your food then," he said, and left the room.

--

The speedboat pulled into the Cuban village, sending a spray of water flying up into the air. It almost didn't slow down enough and almost ran into the dock. Sao Feng cut the engine, and James instantly got up and headed to jump off the boat.

"Elizabeth," he said, but Sao Feng grabbed him by the back of the shirt and yanked him back and turned him around to face him.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Sao Feng asked.

"To find Elizabeth! She could be here right now!" James was almost jumping with anxiousness.

"Listen here, boy," Sao Feng pointed a finger at him, and lowered his voice, "I thought I told you, you do as I say. You're not leading the party here. Now understand, Sparrow's got a lot of friends in this community, and if you go jumping out unarmed, and let's say you happened to find Elizabeth, Jack would shoot ya as soon as look at ya… but, Jack's not here. Neither is your little girl."

"What?" James demanded.

"Use your brain, kid, they are on a yacht. See any yachts around here?" Sao Feng asked, "We missed em. My guess is that they refueled, resupplied and are on their way to Tortuga Island, and it'd be best for Ms. Swann if we catch up with them before they reach _that_ place."

"Well what are we waiting for?" James asked.

"I need to refuel," Sao Feng answered, "It'll take a few minutes tops."

"But that's a few minutes more that we're behind them!" James cried.

"Hey," Sao Feng snapped, "I was the one who agreed to take you on this mouse hunt. If it weren't for me, you'd be floating back in US waters, so I'm doing this my way and I don't want you complaining. We'll reach them when we reach them. Understand?"

James sighed and nodded.

--

A/N: Whew, there's another one done. Updated a lot sooner than what has lately been considered my norm, so I'm happy, yay! Will and Elizabeth kissed this chapter, but it wasn't as pleasant as most would have hoped. But, they will come along, eventually and a much more pleasant one is on the horizon.

I have some news! I've done it for previous fics, and I've decided to do it for this one since it's so popular. I've made a fan site for I'm In Love With A Modern Day Pirate! It has character profiles, and news & ideas about the story that I can't all fit into an author's note, and more will be added as the story goes on! So, I think linking websites in the chapters themselves still doesn't work, so visit my profile, and the link to the website is at the bottom! Check it out !

-RK


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Elizabeth was able to fix herself a little meal from what she could find in the fridge and the cupboards, Kraft Dinner, to be exact. It had been a common favorite of hers when she was younger, and found it a little odd that she'd find it aboard.

The food tasted good, although her cooking wasn't the best, but it was tolerable. As she ate, Elizabeth pondered the events of the past day or so. Being to Cuba for the first time, visiting weird Tia Dalma, and of course, getting into that argument with Will and having him end it with a kiss – which if he hadn't been what he was, a scoundrel and a criminal running from the law, a pirate none the less, would have probably been enjoyable.

Wait, Elizabeth instantly caught herself the last moment _that _thought went through her head. What on earth? No, she was wrong. It wouldn't have mattered who it was, she had James, and if it had been anyone other than James it would have been horrible.

She sighed in embarrassment and anger at her thoughts. Why would she have thought that? It was odd; it sort of just… came into her mind.

And, what Will had said about Tia Dalma, Elizabeth didn't want to believe him at all. Although, she always had a knack for telling when people were lying to her, and Will sounded like he had been telling the truth. An absurd, hard to believe truth! What woman could predict the future and know peoples names without having met them? Some freak psychic or something, and Elizabeth didn't really believe in the sorts… until now, that is. Now her opinion was leaning towards a change.

Tia Dalma had known her name right off the bat, as soon as she had walked into the hut. Jack or Will hadn't told her, she just _knew_. Not to mention she had rhymed off James's name, and what kind of bloody situation Elizabeth was in. She even knew it was Will who had kidnapped her off the dock.

Okay, she might have a little touch of psychiatric abilities, but what Will had said last was the most ridiculous.

"_Rumor has it that she has been alive since the 18__th__ Century." _

That was impossible. There was no way someone could live that long. 100 years, maybe, but Tia Dalma looked young, she wasn't decrepit. Will must have been really gullible, Elizabeth decided, to listen to a rumor like that.

And it was exactly that, a rumor.

---

"How's Lizzy?" Jack asked Will as he stood at the edge of the rail. Will had pulled his sunglasses on and was lying stretched out on one of the deck chairs, trying to relax a little and get his emotions to calm down.

"She's fine," Will muttered, "As fine as you could expect someone of her position to be."

"It sounds like you're pitying the girl, now," Jack raised an eyebrow, and he tossed an empty rum bottle over the side into the ocean, "That slap did something to you? Or did she kick you this time?"

"You saw her slap me?" Will peeked at Jack over his sunglasses.

"Well, heard it," Jack rolled his eyes, "It was loud enough. And when I saw the red mark on your cheek I put two and two together. Aren't I a genius?"

"Absolutely," Will muttered, playing with his necklace he had around his neck.

"You know, Will," Jack said thoughtfully, "I must say I admire your pathetic efforts."

"What pathetic efforts are you talking about, Jack?"

"Oh don't play stupid," Jack retorted, walking wobbly to a deck chair across from Will and practically falling into it, "I think both me 'n' Barbossa know that you like 'er. Can we really blame you, no! She's a good lookin' girl."

Will's expression contorted into one of anger. Or at least, that's what he was aiming for.

"Stow it, Jack," Will snapped, "I don't like her."

"Oh, well," Jack smiled slightly, "Ya gonna blame it all on the drink, then? So you're sayin' you chose 'Lizabeth for no reason? So if there was some hideous ol' bag walkin' on the dock that night instead o' her you'da snatched her up too?"

"No," Will sighed.

"Well somethin' musta made ya want to kidnap her!" Jack replied, "It's not like she was shrouded in jewels or looked like she 'ad a million bucks on her! You grabbed 'er 'cause she's beautiful."

"Well I never denied she was beautiful," Will raised an eyebrow, "Because she is. But I kissed her to shut her up."

"Hmm," Jack grinned wryly at him, playing with one of his dreads, "Right. Speakin' of Lizzy, what'd you leave her down there doin'?"

"She was going to make something to eat, I believe," Will replied.

"Food?" Jack shot up, "I'm bloody well starvin'! She better have some leftovers for hungry ol' Jackie! Come on Will!"

"Bring me some!" Barbossa called from the helm.

Will got up off his chair, as Jack scrambled down below decks. He sighed.

"I don't think it's a good idea…" he said, but Jack was already down there. As Will wearily headed down the stairs, the smell of Kraft Dinner filled his nose. Oh great. He _loved _KD.

He walked into the room, and Elizabeth was sitting at the table, with a bowl in front of her. She was half done, and she looked up at him. Jack was already over at the stove, scooping some Kraft Dinner into a bowl.

"You can have some too," Elizabeth offered, seeming a lot calmer, "I made the whole box, so help yourself."

Will was thrown off by her kindness and her mood in general. He figured as soon as he and Jack came down her bumming for food, she would have gotten angry, but she was eagerly sharing with them! What the…

"I'm takin' some up to Barbossa," Jack said, as he brushed past Will and walked up the stairs with two bowls in his hand. Elizabeth watched him leave, and then turned to Will.

"Are you going to have some?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess," Will muttered, "But… you made this for yourself… I don't…"

"I have mine," Elizabeth gestured down her bowl, "I don't eat a whole pot of it. I'd hurry up and get some, before Jack comes back for seconds. He looks starving."

"Thank you," Will answered softly, and he walked over and took a bowl from the cupboard, and scooped some of the macaroni into it. After grabbing a spoon from the drawer, he turned and walked over to the table, sitting down across from Elizabeth.

He took a spoonful and ate it, and he didn't wait to swallow before talking.

"This is good," he said approvingly with a nod.

"Thanks," Elizabeth answered sheepishly, "I personally don't think I can cook that well, but as long as people don't get sick from it, I suppose its good."

"You're cooking is good enough for me," Will raised an eyebrow, "Jack can coo sometimes, when he's sober and can actually concentrate on what he's doing, and Barbossa isn't that bad either, but just between you and me, you're way better."

Elizabeth bit back a smile, and she nodded in response. There was silence afterwards for a while as they both ate. The silence was broken, though, when Jack came clattering back down the stairs, with two empty bowls in his hands.

"I'm getting some more, if you don't mind, Lizzy," Jack said, "Barbossa wants seconds as well."

"Go ahead," Elizabeth replied, sounding cheerful.

On his way back upstairs, Jack leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Complements to the chef," he laughed, and winked at Will, then hurried upstairs.

Elizabeth, who had paused with her spoon halfway to her mouth, let out a sigh, and set it down, and watched him as he dashed out of the door.

"You didn't slap _him_," Will had to say.

"He complemented me," Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, "A kiss on the cheek, in my opinion, there's nothing wrong with it, and Jack's not in his right mind anyway. Other kinds, however," she narrowed her eyes at him, "Aren't acceptable."

"You wouldn't slap Jack, would you?" Will demanded, "Because you're afraid of what he'd do."

"I would, if he kissed me like you did," Elizabeth answered simply, looking down at her bowl.

It grew silent again for a little while. Will was angry at himself for killing the conversation, but determined to not let it completely die, he cleared his throat.

"The sun's going down," Will remarked, looking out the window at the golden sky.

"Mhm," Elizabeth nodded, "Like it does everyday."

Will sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry about bringing that up," Will answered, "And I don't want you to be all sour towards me again. I liked that Elizabeth that offered me Kraft Dinner a few minutes ago."

Elizabeth looked up at him, her brown eyes meeting his. She set down her spoon, and shoved her bowl aside, to make room for her arms as she folded them on the table.

"I'm sorry I ever let you meet her," Elizabeth replied, "Because at that moment, I was too nice for my own good, and my mood got ahead of my mind. I shouldn't even have been that way."

"Why?" Will asked, suddenly confused.

"Because," Elizabeth said shortly, picking up her dishes and getting up. She crossed to the sink and dropped them into the sink. She seemed upset now, and she suddenly averted the conversation, not bothering finishing the answer to his question, "I need some fresh air. I'm allowed to go up on deck, aren't I?" Her eyes met his and they were blazing. For a moment, he thought her cheeks were ablaze, too.

"Of course," Will said quietly.

She didn't even wait for him. She left the room and went up the stairs. Will pushed back his chair, not bothering to put away his bowl in the sink, and followed her.

The air was getting slightly colder, as the sun was disappearing below the horizon. The whole boat and ocean had been doused in a pretty orange glow. Will noticed, as he came up on deck and saw Elizabeth perched on the end of a deck chair nearest the stern, she was strikingly beautiful in this light. Her hair was tousled around her face as it was rustled by the breeze, and she held her face up delicately with one hand as she watched the sun setting.

"Really something, isn't she?" Jack's voice said quietly from behind him, and Will turned around to see Jack watching her too.

"Yeah," Will admitted, looking back to her, "She really is."

"Don't give up yet, lad," Jack said thoughtfully, "Barbossa and I were just talkin'. We think she likes you back."

"Yeah, right," Will scoffed, "She hates me, she hates us all."

"If she hated us, you honestly think she'da shared her food with us?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

Will didn't reply, he just folded his arms on his chest.

"She's a very confusing person," Will said quietly, "Hard to understand."  
"She's too boring," Jack corrected, "I plan to have some fun tonight, ya know, I was figuring, crank the radio, have some rum, just chill. Get her in on it; don't keep her locked down in that room all the time, savvy?"

Will turned and just looked at Jack.

---

James was getting frustrated. The sun was going down now, and that meant it was going to turn dark… and he doubted Sao Feng would stay awake the whole time. Previously, he had stopped the boat, but James wasn't sure that would be a good idea now. The pirates were already so far ahead of them.

"Are we going to stop tonight?" James asked, as he stood beside Sao Feng.

"Well, I'm not superman," Sao Feng retorted, "We both need to sleep."

"How about we… take turns," James suggested, "You sleep for four hours or so, while I drive the boat, then vise versa, you know? They are already so far ahead of us! Like you said, we don't want them to get to Tortuga."

"You're so devoted, boy," Sao Feng shook his head, and for a moment, James thought he was going to say no, but instead, he nodded, "Actually, that's not a bad idea boy, and driving this boat won't be a problem for you, you just have to keep on course, and that's straight at the moment. If you have any questions, just wake me. So… do you want to give it a try first, or second?"

"I think it'd be best if I rest a little first," James replied, "I've been going all day."

"Fine," Sao Feng said, "You've got four hours, starting now. When I wake you up, I don't want any grumbling, understand? If I get even as much as a groan, I'll stop the boat and we'll both sleep."

"Gotcha," James answered, and he walked back to the second row of seats in the boat, and lay down across them. It was pretty comfortable, and despite the light from the setting sun, he was asleep in minutes.

----

Will didn't talk to Elizabeth for a while; Elizabeth remained on her deck chair until the sun was almost gone below the horizon, silent and unmoving. For a moment, Will thought she had gone to sleep, but her eyes were open, so it gladly but his theory to rest.

"It's getting dark, now," Jack said, coming down from the helm, stretching, "Any of you tired?"

"Not really," Will answered with a sigh. He actually was pretty tired, but he said he wasn't anyway.

"How about you, Lizzy?" Jack asked, "You're pretty quiet over there."

"I'm awake," she replied dully, crossing her legs and shifting her head in his direction.

"You look pretty tired, love," Jack folded his arms, and then he looked to everyone, "I'll be right back, just have to fetch something. Will, I need your help, come with me."

Will sighed, and he got up, and followed Jack below decks. Jack told him to go into the room and fetch the portable radio, while he ran off to the storage room, where with no doubt he'd come back with arms full of rum bottles.

Will found the radio beneath a dish towel, which Jack had probably thrown here in one of his attempts to wash the dishes. He grabbed the radio and walked out of the door, and almost ran into Jack, who had a whole box of Captain Morgan.

"My god, Jack," Will looked at him, "A whole box?"

"Not all for me," Jack raised an eyebrow, "There are 3 other people aboard."

And with that he hurried up the stairs, nearly tripping a couple of times. Will followed him, and Jack got up on the deck, and he shouted happily, "Who wants rum!?"

He set down the box of it beside one of the deck chairs.

"Come and get it," He beamed, hastily grabbing a bottle out of the box, and opening it. He hurried over to Will, and grabbed the radio out of his hands, and sat it down on the deck chair. Jack struggled for a few minutes with turning it on and finding a station that would come in, but when he did, he cranked the volume, giving a whoop of joy.

"Yeah!" He shouted, swaggering across the deck, dancing slightly, nearly spilling the rum all down the front of his shirt, "I love this song!"

"You're absolutely crazy," Barbossa remarked, as he came down the ladder to get a bottle of rum for himself.

"Oh I'm not!" Jack cried, "I'm happy, it's absolutely wonderful… dance… everyone…"

Will looked over to Elizabeth, who was watching Jack dancing around drunk with a slightly amused look on her face. He looked down to the box of rum, then grabbed out two bottles, and walked towards Elizabeth.

"Come on," Will said with a smile, "Don't be sitting over here by yourself, have some fun."

He held out the bottle of rum to her.

"I don't drink," Elizabeth retorted, "If that's what you mean."

"Who's going to find out?" Will asked with a shrug, "Besides, you're responsible. Come on." He smiled.

Elizabeth looked at the rum, then at him. She swiped the bottle out of his hand with a sigh, and with a little smirk she got to her feet. A part of her was screaming _"What are you doing? Are you crazy?"_, but her other side was telling her that she might be able to relax, and possibly have some fun. She wasn't going to get drunk, but she mind as well make the best of this odd situation.

She and Will walked back to where Jack was spinning around, humming along to the song. He paused for a moment, to stare at Elizabeth, who was opening the bottle of rum.

"My God, Will, you did it!" He cried, and he ran forward, and hugged Elizabeth, "Good for you, Lizzy!" As he did this, Elizabeth spilled her rum, all over her shirt and Jack's. Jack didn't care, but she did.

"Great!" Elizabeth cried, as Jack and she looked down their sodden clothes, "Now I'm going to…" she paused and then she shook her head and laughed, "What the hell."

Elizabeth put the bottle up to her lips, and took a drink. The loud music was making her giddy, and she drank a mouthful, but almost spit it out, as it burned her throat. She coughed, and made a face.

"You'll get used to it, eventually, love," Jack put his arm around her, struggling to keep his balance, "Right Will?"

"Right," Will replied, and then he looked at Elizabeth, who took another drink. She didn't make much of a face this time. He decided to be brave, and he held out his hand to her, "Want to dance?"

Elizabeth smiled, and she took his hand, which was warm in his. He pulled her close, and put one hand on her waist, meanwhile trying not to drop the bottle of rum. They danced for a little while, Elizabeth taking a drink from her rum every once and a while, a smile on her face.

"I shouldn't be doing this," she shook her head, laughing, the rum already taking effect on her, "I know I shouldn't, but I am anyway."

"No harm in it," Will answered, as Jack danced circles around them, twirling and humming and laughing at nothing. He stumbled, and almost fell flat on his face, and both Will and Elizabeth laughed.

Elizabeth felt so happy, right here with Will, Jack and Barbossa. At the moment, her mind was spinning, she felt like she could run a marathon, and strangely, everything was funny, and she forgot about all her troubles… this moment in time was awesome.

She laughed again, for no particular reason, and looked into Will's eyes. He was smiling too, and she noticed, he had a beautiful smile. As she looked at him, the music seemed to die down, and everything slowed, as they just looked at each other, not saying anything.

Will was captivated by Elizabeth's beauty, as they both danced, not even in time to the music, and he realized there was no point in denying that he loved her anymore. The thought of kissing her came into his head, but suddenly Jack grabbed her and pulled her out of his arms, laughing.

"Spin with me!" Jack drawled, taking Elizabeth's hands. She laughed, almost stumbling over her own feet.

"Alright," she mumbled, and she and Jack started spinning, but it wasn't really that. Jack lost his balance in the first second, and just let go of Elizabeth and fell backwards onto his butt, and started laughing.

Elizabeth stumbled, and lost her balance, but Will was there in seconds, and caught her before she could hit the deck.

"Be careful," he said, but both he and Elizabeth started laughing. He pulled her back into his arms, and Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck, and he put his hands around her waist. She smiled, and looked up at the sky, which had grown dark now. Will looked up too, and the sky was beautiful. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and thousands of stars glittered on a black backdrop.

"Beautiful," Elizabeth breathed, and she glanced down to meet Will's eyes.

"Beautiful, yes," Will whispered back, but he wasn't talking about the stars. He reached up slowly, and put his hand on her face, to draw her in closer.

"Beautiful," Elizabeth whispered again, as their faces grew closer.

"Beautiful," Will said, and he closed his eyes, and just about as he was going to kiss her, he suddenly felt her limp in her arms, and his eyes shot open. Elizabeth's eyes closed and she slumped against his shoulder. She had passed out cold.

**A/N: **Firstly, my apologies, for not updating in like over a month! I was extremely busy, and not to mention I wasn't able to find motivation to write this chapter for a while, but this weekend gone past, my friend and I pulled an all-nighter where we watched all three of the Pirates movies, and I was inspired again! Yay! So yes, this chapter I wrote in one day, and it was so much fun to write, especially the last scene about them getting drunk. I was actually pondering whether or not to include the scene so early on, but yeah. I think I made a good decision. So I promise I won't let it go this long again without updating. Hope you enjoy! - RK


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

When Will awoke the next morning, lying on his stomach on the deck, the first thing he realized besides the hot sun beating down on him and the waves gently rocking the boat, was his massive, pounding headache. He groaned, and closed his eyes, and rolled over to his back, clamping his hands over his forehead, which was throbbing continuously. The movement of him rolling over made him feel like he was going to throw up, but it quickly subsided. Will had been telling himself last night he shouldn't have even touched the rum, but at the moment the reason hadn't been apparent, but now it was a big throbbing reason.

Hangover.

He hadn't suffered from one since the night he had gotten drunk and he had kidnapped Elizabeth, and that one was a killer, but something about the way this one was strong even in his subconscious mind, told Will this one was going to be worse.

That was just great.

He turned his head slightly, not wanting to attempt to sit up yet, and saw Barbossa asleep snoring in a deckchair, Jack lying sprawled out on his back, also out cold, and Elizabeth, where he had gently placed her before, on another deckchair, conked right out as well. A couple of empty bottles rolled around the deck, and pieces of broken glass littered the whole area from where Jack was trying to play soccer with the rum bottles.

Will, Jack and Barbossa had remained awake after Elizabeth had passed out, for they were more used to the rum than she had. Will, however, was the second, and while Jack was in the middle of his 'soccer games', he had just lost his balance and didn't remember much after that.

So he assumed Barbossa would have been the third to go, and old Jack would have outlasted them all, probably swaggering around and muttering things long into the night.

As Will finished his survey of the scene, that's when he realized that the boat was stopped. Barbossa wasn't driving the boat, they were just floating there… oh great, that was just great.

When Jack woke up, he wouldn't be happy. Nor, Will assumed, would anyone else. If everyone else had even half of the wicked hangover he had, they'd all be miserable. He looked over to Elizabeth.

Yes, especially never-been-drunk-before Elizabeth. He pitied her, would she ever be horrible! And he guessed, probably very angry.

The way she had acted last night, Will knew wasn't the normal Elizabeth, she had been under the influence of alcohol, but even then, he admitted that he had liked that Elizabeth very much. Yes, a lot more than the normal one.

Will sighed, and grabbed onto the nearest deck chair to pull himself into a sitting position. For a moment, his head spun wildly, but it cleared, and he bravely got to his feet. He wobbled, but regained his balance, and walked towards Jack.

He nudged him in the ribs with his foot. Jack snorted, stirred, and muttered something unintelligible.

"Jack!" Will raised his voice, giving him another nudge, "Jack, get up!"

"What!?" Jack opened his eyes, but squinted from the sun beating down on his face. He shielded them with his arm, "What do you want, Will? Oh… I don't feel good."

"Help me get Barbossa and Elizabeth up," Will said, "Barbossa bloody well passed out. We're floating here like a buoy."

Jack instantly was angry, he crumpled his eyebrows, and ignored Will's hand to help him up. He got to his feet, stumbled forward a few steps, but straightened and swaggered over to Barbossa lying in the deck chair.

"BARBOSSA!!" He yelled, and he succeeded in waking both his intended and Elizabeth as well. They both shot awake, Barbossa looking perturbed, and as Will looked back over his shoulder at Elizabeth, she looked sick.

"What, dammit?" Barbossa groaned, as Jack grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up off the deck chair, "I'm awake, Jesus, Jack, what the 'ell?"

"You went to sleep, that's what!" Jack cried, arms flailing wildly, "And left us just floatin' here! You don't know who the hell could have come up on us, Lizzy's bloody boyfriend or somethin!!"

As they argued, Will turned his attentions to Elizabeth, who was lying back on the deck chair, both hands over her face, not moving. He strode across the deck somewhat unsteadily to her, and he kneeled down beside her chair.

"Elizabeth," he said softly.

"Uhh," she groaned, her voice almost sounding like she was about to cry, "I feel _bloody_ awful! I feel like I'm… I feel… sick… I have a huge headache…"

"You, Lizzy, are experiencing your first hangover," Will said sympathetically.

"First and last…" she drawled, still keeping her hands over her face, "Oh I don't remember anything, what on earth... make them stop yelling!"

Will looked back over his shoulder accusingly at Jack and Barbossa, who were still shooting words back and forth. He thought about telling them to shut up, but he knew it wouldn't work.

"Let's take you down below decks," Will said, "Here, take my hand."

Elizabeth removed her hands from her face, and he saw she wasn't crying. She just had a very pained expression on her face. Her eyes met his, and for a moment, she didn't do anything, she just looked at him, her expression flashing shock.

Will raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Elizabeth…?" he asked quietly.

"Will," she replied softly, then raised her voice, "Oh God, what did I do last night?"

"Nothing," Will lied, putting an assuring hand on her shoulder, "Harmless things, Elizabeth. Nothing you'll regret, come on."

Elizabeth looked at him unsurely for a moment, then she took his outstretched hand. He gently pulled her up from the chair, and she instantly stumbled, and slapped a hand to her mouth, growing very pale.

"Are you going to be sick?" Will asked, but Elizabeth shook her head stubbornly, and didn't move for a few minutes. Then she raised her head again, removing her hand from her mouth and took in a deep breath.

"The sooner you get me downstairs, the better," she said with an exasperated sigh.

"Of course," Will nodded understandingly, and he helped her past Barbossa and Jack, who were still bickering, and down the stairs into the room. He didn't even bother closing the door, he just ushered her halfway towards the couch, then changed his mind and took her over to the single bed in the corner. Elizabeth basically fell onto it, and Will had to lift her legs up onto the bed.

She let out a sigh of relief, or perhaps it was relaxation. Will left her side for a moment to hastily pull down the blinds, darkening the room. He then grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and dragged it over to her bedside.

"You're fine now," Will whispered softly, "Close your eyes and go to sleep. Just go to sleep…"

"I'm not really tired," Elizabeth whispered, although she closed her eyes, "God, remind me to never ever do that again."

"Never do that again," Will said, a small smile coming to his lips. Elizabeth didn't open her eyes, but a smile spread across her face.

"I hope I wasn't troublesome," she replied softly, "When I was drunk."

"No, you weren't the slightest," Will leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "You were funny, you were cheerful, you were…"

He trailed off, as his eyes met hers. They both realized at the same time how close their faces were, and Will expected for Elizabeth to turn away from him. But she didn't, she continued to look into his eyes, and for a moment neither of them moved, neither of them spoke, the only sound was their breathing.

"Beautiful," Elizabeth said softly, and Will's eyes widened, realizing that she remembered last night. He smiled slightly, and nodded, laughing slightly. Elizabeth smiled back.

Will felt his heart pounding in his ears, as he looked into her brown eyes, her deep brown eyes. She was sober now, he realized, she wasn't drunk. She hadn't any rum; she wasn't influenced in any way. This was the Elizabeth Swann he'd kidnapped from the dock.

Elizabeth bit her lip; her cheeks visibly pink, even in the dim light of the room.

"I have a horrible headache," she whispered, her voice calm. For a moment, it sounded as if she was about to cry. Will looked from her full lips back to her eyes, and they were glittering with tears. She spoke again, "I don't feel well at all Will."

"I… I can help you," he whispered huskily, and then he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, closing his eyes. Upon contact, a shock shot through both of them, and Will felt overjoyed. This is what he had been wanting last night, before she had passed out on him. He momentarily winced, waiting for a slap, waiting for her to pull away, but as the seconds passed, she didn't.

Will felt her hand reach up and touch his face, and instinctively, he deepened the kiss, leaning off the chair, so he was over her. He put his hands on the bed, on either side of her, and then he reached up and slipped his hand under her head, twisting his fingers through her hair and pulling her head up off the pillow, drawing her face closer to his.

The kiss was heaven; her lips were soft and sweet against his, and she allowed him to bring this kiss to represent the long tension between them had held back. Elizabeth ran her fingers through his dark curls, kissing him, ignoring as a tear slipped down her cheek.

This was wrong, she knew it. But it felt so right.

They finally broke the kiss, and Will was surprised to see Elizabeth's tears. He leaned back from her, and sat somewhat bewilderedly back into the chair, the both of them regaining the air they had been deprived of during the kiss. He met her eyes, and she looked away from him, her cheeks really red.

"I shouldn't have done that," she whispered.

Will didn't say anything; he just reached up and took her hand in his. They exchanged glances again, and then Elizabeth fixed her gaze on the wall and didn't take it off. He watched her, stroking her hand with his thumb, until finally, he saw her eyes close. He sighed, and let his head fall, and sat there, his heart still pounding.

He paused when he saw the change in her breathing, and knew she had fallen back to sleep. He sighed again, and looked back up to her peaceful face.

"I love you," he whispered, and let his hand slide off hers.

---

The speedboat sped through the water, which was shining golden with the morning sunlight. James was at the wheel, enjoying the spray of the sea as he purposely drove over larger swells. The water struck his face and made him forget about being tired, and his seasickness, well he figured that he had finally gotten over it. Sao Feng was still asleep, but James wasn't really ready to give up the wheel just yet anyway.

The wind was blowing his hair straight back, and he let out a little whoop, swerving the boat a little to the starboard to catch a big wave. The boat bounced as it shot over the wave, and James laughed.

However, as he scanned the horizon, he felt his heart leap as he saw what looked to be a boat far off. He bit his lip and suddenly realized this could be Elizabeth's kidnappers. As he neared, he realized the boat wasn't moving… and that this boat, wasn't just a mere boat. It was a yacht.

His heart began to pound, and he turned around frantically to Sao Feng, who was asleep. He took one hand off the wheel to grab an empty water bottle from the floor and he threw it at Sao Feng, who awoke with a start.

"What?" he snapped grouchily.

"A yacht up ahead!" James shouted over the motor. This caused Sao Feng to get up quickly. He followed James' frantic pointing, and he saw the yacht for himself. He nodded in response, and he turned and hurried to the back of the boat.

"Well?" James asked, as Sao Feng lifted up the seat, to reveal a storage space beneath it. He saw him rummage for a little bit, then he turned to face him. The next thing he knew, he had a handgun thrust at him. James' instantly went pale and his eyes crossed to see the weapon in front of his face.

"Take it!" Sao Feng said impatiently, "You might need it."

James, with wide eyes, nervously took the gun from him and examined it in his hands. Sao Feng, who had two handguns for himself tucked in his belt, shoved past him and took the wheel.

James stared in horror at the gun then back up at Sao Feng, who glanced back over his shoulder at him to give him a smile.

"That's one good thing about being a bounty hunter," He grinned, "Get to carry those."

"Are you insane?" James cried, "I'm not going to kill anybody! We're not going to actually need to use these, right?"

Sao Feng raised his eyebrow and looked at him like he was stupid.

"I'm not here just for your girlfriend, Norrington," he said, "I'm also here to get myself a couple of pirates. And anyway, you've read Sparrow's records. You honestly think he wouldn't have weapons?"

---

Barbossa and Jack were still arguing, when they heard a boat motor approaching. They both shut up and turned to look, and they saw the speedboat off in the distance. Jack's eyes widened, and Barbossa cursed.

"Sao Feng?" Barbossa asked lowly.

"Who else?" Jack growled, "You know what to do."

Everything became a scramble. Barbossa flew up the ladder to the wheel, nearly tripping over his own feet, and Jack ran down the stairs, and on his way past the kitchenette room to get some weapons, he shouted, "WILL! We've got bloody company!!"

Will gasped, and he cursed under his breath. He shot to his feet, and took one last look at Elizabeth before running out of the room, and clambering down the dark hallway after Jack to the cargo hold.

Jack was already scrambling, tearing open boxes. Will ran to his side, and Jack thrust a handgun to his chest, his hand shaking. Will took it and put it in his belt, and then Jack handed him another one. He opened his mouth to protest, but he realized it wouldn't do any good. He took the second weapon, and watched as Jack grabbed a clip of ammo for his handgun, slipped it in his pocket, then took out an Uzi.

"Jesus Jack," Will said under his breath, "What else did Juan get for you?"

Jack looked at him over his shoulder, and smiled. He grabbed a long box, and gestured for Will to get out ahead of him.

Will ran up the stairs, and Jack came not shortly after. Will put his sunglasses on, he still had a headache, and sure enough, he saw the speed boat coming after them. Barbossa had started the yacht and they were now speeding as fast as the motor would take them.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Jack asked, as he set the box he had taken from cargo on a deck chair, and he turned to look at the approaching speedboat.

"She's got a hangover, she's asleep," Will answered. He didn't bother mentioning the kiss to Jack. He would just laugh. Will treasured that moment, and didn't plan on telling anyone. It was their moment, his and Elizabeth's.

"Good," Jack said, "But not sure she will be much longer."

"Do you really think this is wise?" Will demanded, brushing a piece of his hair from his eyes frantically, "Engaging in a gunfight? We can out run them easily!"

"Wouldn't be any fun in that," Jack smiled, "Now would there, Will? Besides, you should know this by now, we fight to run away."

He turned to look up at Barbossa, and motioned with his arm for him to turn around. Will felt his heart skip a beat as the yacht began to turn around to face the oncoming speedboat, however looked down to the gun in his hand, and cocked it. He felt the adrenaline starting to pump through his veins.

"It's been a while since my last gunfight," Will said, and he and Jack exchanged smiles.

"Any doubts?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Nope," Will shook his head, "What's the plan of action, anyway?"

"Shoot at em, exchange bullets for a while," Jack said calmly, "Then, I'll use Juan's special gift," he glanced at the box sitting on the chair, "To cripple their boat. I'm still deciding whether we should kill 'em, leave 'em to the sharks or take us a couple o' prisoners."

"Hmm," Will said thoughtfully, nodding in approval, "Are you going to let me know what Juan's 'special gift' is? Or are you going to leave it as a surprise?"

"You'll see it when you see it, Will," Jack smiled, "I stole a look at it back in Cuba. She's a real beauty; I've always wanted to use one meself."

"Now you've got me intrigued," Will crumpled his eyebrows, and he looked over the side, ahead of them, "Hey, is that Tortuga I see off in the distance?"

"You bet it is," Jack grinned, "After we deal with these fools, it's off to Tortuga, and then fetch a good price off Lizzy, eh?"

"Sure," Will said lowly, not letting Jack see the frown on his face. There was no way he was going to let Jack give Elizabeth to any brothel. No way in hell.

---

"It's them alright!" Sao Feng shouted, turning back to James, "And look, their turning around to come meet us! Get ready for some flying bullets, kid, and don't get yourself killed!"

James looked absolutely frightened, and he opened his mouth to try to come up with a reply, but nothing but a little gasp came from his mouth. He quickly shut it again, and wiped the sweat off his brow, and gazed down to the gun in his hands.

"If it means getting your girlfriend back, don't look so scared!" Sao Feng snapped, "You shouldn't have come with me if you're afraid of just a little conflict with a couple of gun-wielding misfits."

James couldn't believe what he was hearing. He let out a little sigh, and could feel the onslaught of a panic attack coming on. A _little_ conflict. Oh yes, that was just a wonderful way to describe it.

**A/N: **EXCITING EXCITING EXCITING! Sorry, lmao. But yes, you have Elizabeth and Will's true kiss, not to mention the escalation to a gunfight which will be in the next chapter! This is going to be interesting! Let me know what you think! I'm even excited, and I'm the bloody author. See you next chapter. It's sure to be a blast, literally. – RK.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The two boats sped toward each other, and James was hidden in the back of the boat, crouched low, his gun abandoned on the boat floor. He had his hands clasped over his head, noticeably quivering.

"You afraid?" Sao Feng cackled, looking briefly over his shoulder to James, "For goodness sakes, what are you doing on the floor? Get up!"

"I came out here to save Elizabeth, not get myself killed!" James shouted back, uncovering his head just for a moment before ducking back down. And the bullets weren't even flying yet. Sao Feng smirked to himself; this kid was sure a wimp. Well, it was predictable, not like had been expected James to jump up and be ready to shoot and be shot at.

On Jack's boat, he was grinning almost maniacally as the two boats drew closer, and Barbossa slowed the engine, as did Sao Feng, and the boats slowed to a drift, and for a moment, it was fairly quiet, and no one spoke. Will looked at the boat, and saw Sao Feng, and then looked to the second man, who was cowardly crouching low, and realized with a little snort that this was James Norrington. Oh yes, he noted, Norrington looked _incredibly_ eager to try and save Elizabeth...

Will turned his attentions to Jack as he arrogantly strode up to the rail, and peered out at Sao Feng and James, a sneaky smile coming on his face. He raised a tanned arm and waved with friendliness, a fake friendliness, of course.

"Ahoy there," Jack called, his voice ringing out loudly to the enemies' ears.

"Ahoy yourself," Sao Feng replied bitterly, not bothering to return Jack's stupid wave.

"Sao Feng, my old _friend_," Jack smiled, his voice frothing with sarcasm, "It's so good to see you again! I'm honored that you've came all the way out here to see me. We're pretty much at Tortuga!"

"Don't flatter yourself," Sao Feng spat, "You know damn well what I'm here for."

"What you're here for?" Jack repeated, and he started pacing calmly back and forth on the deck, not taking his eyes off Sao Feng, "Well, let me think. If I'm correct, I do believe you're here in an attempt to kill me, William, and Hector, or, perhaps not be so savage, and take us back to the States? Am I right? Tell me, how big is the bounty on our heads nowadays, anyway? I suppose stealin' the girl brought it up quite a bit."

Sao Feng opened his mouth to respond, but James suddenly rose to full height.

"Where's Elizabeth?" James called, staring up at Jack Sparrow with determination.

"Well, well, well," Jack grinned amusingly, "If it isn't the little coward of a lad I shot at a few nights back, Lizzy's boyfriend. I knew I recognized you. James Norrington, isn't it?"

"Yes," James replied through gritted teeth, "You didn't answer my question. Where's Elizabeth?"

"Oh she's safe," Jack said, "Haven't shot her yet, so don't worry."

James' face instantly contorted into one of shock and stupefied horror.

Will looked to Jack in slight amusement. He knew he was teasing James, just to make him worry. Will walked up to the rail beside Jack, and peered down at this James character to get a better look at him.

"I've been taking good care of her," Will called down, "Unless you have any objections to getting her drunk."

"You bastards!" James called, instantly infuriated, "If I find out you have laid a single hand on her…" he looked to Will, "You especially, you were the one who kidnapped her in the first place!"

"The names Will Turner," Will answered, exchanging smirks with Jack, and they both chuckled softly.

"Alright then, Will Turner," James said mockingly, "I want to negotiate the return of Elizabeth."

Will laughed.

"You honestly think I'm going to give her up to you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "And besides, if I were to, there's no benefit for me, Jack or Barbossa. We enjoy Elizabeth's company."

"You are…" James started, but Sao Feng interrupted him.

"Shut up, boy," Sao Feng said, elbowing James out of the way, "Let me handle this. They won't listen to someone like you."

"Alright, Sao Feng," Jack asked interestingly, "How are you going to handle it?"

"Like this," Sao Feng said, and suddenly, he raised the two guns, and instantly Will and Jack shot out of the way as he fired, the gunshots cutting through the air. Jack cursed as he hit the deck, and he pulled his two handguns from his jeans and he shot up and fired rapidly at Sao Feng's boat. James, he noted quickly, had ducked again cowardly out of range.

The guns went off loudly, making Will flinch, but he took out his gun as well and fired a few shots before ducking back down. They cut through the air like a knife and echoing off the water. His bullets struck the side of Sao Feng's boat and pinged off into the water.

James jumped, and covered his head and tried to duck down further, as he heard Sao Feng fire returning shots, each of them cutting loudly through the air.

Jack and Will darted back and forth, ducking behind the deck chairs and sometimes falling to the deck entirely to avoid the flying bullets.

"Honorable way of handling a situation, Sao Feng!" Jack shouted, jumping up and firing three shots at the boat, causing both Sao Feng and James to duck. He laughed maniacally.

James put his head up momentarily to try and raise his gun, but he let out a yell as he felt a bullet whiz past his head, and he instantly ducked back down. This was insane; his heart was pounding in his ears. Sao Feng's way to handle it, didn't achieve anything besides starting a gun fight! James looked down to his gun in his hand hopelessly, and knew he couldn't shoot it if he tried… he'd end up getting shot in the process before he would even be able to aim, but Elizabeth was on that boat, he had to get her back…

Sao Feng fired more shots, aiming one hand at Will, and the other at Jack.

"Cowardly bastards, the both of you!" he retorted angrily.

"Ha, we're not the ones hiding in our little dinghy of a boat, are we?" Jack grinned mockingly, then he shot at them again, nearly hitting Sao Feng, except the bullet went through the windshield, cracking the glass, causing it to spider web.

---

Down below decks, gunshots slowly came into Elizabeth's dream, and as she drifted out of it into the subconscious state, the gun fire followed. Her brown eyes shot open, and her heart began to race, as she heard the gunshots, coming from up on deck. Ignoring her throbbing headache, she shot up, gasping in surprise. That instant, a bullet came flying in through the window, smashing it out, sending glass flying onto the floor. She screamed, and flew up off her bed, and as another bullet smashed through another window, she dropped to her knees, covering her ears momentarily from the ear splitting noise, and she quickly crawled across the floor towards the door, frightened. What on earth was going on?

She cut her hands and knees on the broken glass, but she only flinched, and then got to the hallway, and scrambled to her feet, ignoring the blood as it began to seep out of the wounds in her hands, and she tore up the stairway. For a moment, she was blinded by the sun, but when her eyes adjusted she saw the scene, she saw the boat… a little boat, much smaller than their yacht, circling them. On it, she saw a Chinese man, and a young man crouched out of the way of the flying bullets… and she saw it was James! They had come!

She started to call his name, but suddenly she was hit from the side, she felt someone grab her by the shoulders and the deck came rushing up to meet her. Elizabeth let out a scream and then a groan as she crashed to the deck, and she was surprised to see Will over her, practically lying on her, his face close to hers.

"Are you out of it?" Will demanded, his hair hanging wildly in his face, "Stay down, or else you could get yourself killed!"

He climbed off of her, and speed-crawled his way back over to accompany Jack, carefully darting from deck chair to deck chair. Jack was frantically shooting at Sao Feng and James, whooping to himself occasionally, getting quite the thrill out of the event. Elizabeth stared wide-eyed in belief for a few moments at Will and Jack, still lying on the deck where Will had pushed her, until she realized she had to try and do something about it.

"No!" Elizabeth screamed, and she crawled right after him, "Stop it! Stop shooting, stop this right now!" she reached Will's side, and she tugged on his shirt frantically, "You could kill him! Jack!" she turned to Jack, pulling at him as well, "Please... stop!"

"'Fraid I can't do that, Lizzy!" Jack growled, elbowing her away from him, "Stay down before you get shot."

Elizabeth felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she looked around, saw Jack shooting, and saw Will as well, but for a moment everything seemed to go into slow motion. The gun shots weren't so loud; Jack and Will's movements weren't so fast. This was her chance, her stupid chance.

She got to her feet, and ran to the rail, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"JAMES!!!" Her voice echoed across the water, and she saw James peek up and for the first time in days, she saw his face. His frightened face, his frightened eyes met hers. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sao Feng jumped up, and went to pull the trigger, and next came James's scream.

"DON'T!"

Elizabeth realized in horror she was in front of Jack, in the bullet's way. Her heart pounded fiercely in her ears as she watched as Sao Feng squeezed the triggers, and she opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Elizabeth clamped her eyes shut, waiting to feel the bullets tear through her body, but she only heard a tiny click. She opened her eyes, and saw Sao Feng's surprised face as he turned to look at his two handguns, which Elizabeth realized were all out of bullets.

The next thing happened so fast. She heard footsteps behind her, and Jack shoved her out of the way so hard she almost lost her balance. He whipped his gun up, and fired once, the gun shot tearing through Elizabeth's ears. She watched as Sao Feng was struck, and he was instantly taken to the floor of the boat.

She gasped, her eyes wide in horror, and she slapped her hands over her mouth to hold back a pending scream. Her knees felt weak. She had just seen someone get _shot._

---

Sao Feng pulled both of the triggers of his handguns, but was surprised when no bullets came out. They both had run out of ammo. In the split second the reality hit him, so did a bullet. He let out a yell, as he felt burning as a bullet tore through the flesh of his arm, and fell.

"Sao Feng!" James shouted in horror, staring at him as he lay gasping in pain beside him, clutching his wounded arm, blood seeping through his fingers and dripping onto the boat floor. For a moment, it was silent, and no gunshots were fired.

"Take the gun," Sao Feng groaned, his face screwed up into an expression of pain. He gestured limply to the gun James had abandoned on the floor. James looked to the gun and then back up to Sao Feng, but ignored him.

"No, let me help you," he said, crawling towards him, "We have to stop the bleeding…"

"Don't worry about me, take the damn gun!" Sao Feng snapped, shoving James away roughly with his good arm, getting blood from his hand onto James' t-shirt.

"But… I…" James stammered, looking to the gun and back to him, "I… never…"

"TAKE THE GUN, AND SHOOT IT!" Sao Feng shouted.

"Are you crazy!?" James shouted back, "I can't shoot!"

"Yes you can!" Sao Feng snapped.

"No I _can't_!" James cried, picking up the gun, "I never shot one of these in my life, besides Elizabeth's up there! Do you want me to end up shooting her by accident?"

"No, aim at Jack, you idiot!"

"You're arm is bleeding all over the place…" James said, "Isn't that a little bit more important than shooting a damned gun?"

"I don't care about my arm!" Sao Feng shook his head, "Just shoot it!"

James looked at the gun, then at Sao Feng, and then he tossed the gun over the side of the boat, and it landed with a plop in the water. Sao Feng cursed, and shook his head in disbelief, and then shouted,

"Have you got a _brain_ in that head of yours!!??"

---

Elizabeth was still standing there, when Jack turned around to face her. It was strangely quiet, and the look she got from Jack frightened her right down to her toes, his eyes were almost black looking with anger. For a moment, Elizabeth thought he was going to shoot her dead, but instead, he thrust the gun to her chest, and Elizabeth scrambled to take it before it dropped to the deck. He strode angrily past her, and Elizabeth looked pleadingly to Will, who glanced at her momentarily before his eyes went to Jack, who was hunched over the farthest deck chair, opening a box. He looked back to her, an apologetic look in his eyes.

Elizabeth looked to Jack.

"What is he doing?" her voice came out shaky and nervous, yet strong at the same time. When she looked back to Will, he still had that expression on his face, making her heart begin to pound. She panicked, "What's in the box? What… What is he doing… Will…"

She backed up, as Will started to walk towards her. He quickened his pace, and had crossed the deck in seconds, and grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her back, not saying a word. She watched over Will's shoulder, as Jack suddenly withdrew, a large weapon from the case, so large that he slung it over his shoulder. Elizabeth's heart went wild, and so did her brain.

She realized what it was. A rocket launcher.

Elizabeth started screaming wildly, struggling against Will's grasp.

"NO! NO PLEASE, JACK, DON'T SHOOT THEM! DON'T KILL THEM! STOP IT!" her struggling did no good, and she fought against Will, lunging forward at Jack as she watched him stride calmly across the deck with the rocket launcher on his shoulder.

"I don't feel like being nice," Jack glanced to Will, a small smile coming on his face.

"STOP!" Elizabeth screamed, her voice choking with tears, "I BEG YOU, PLEASE! DON'T KILL JAMES, DON'T!!!"

"Let em swim home, eh?" Jack said calmly, glancing back to them, and then, putting one foot up on a deck chair, he aimed, and Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief, and kept screaming, her throat beginning to get raw.

Her scream cut off into a strangled gasp, as a loud whooshing sound came from the rocket launcher, and Jack's shoulder was jerked back. What looked to be a flaming fireball sizzled from the barrel and it reached the boat in a second, which, upon contact with the rocket, instantly became not a boat, but an exploding inferno. Elizabeth's knees grew weak as the boat was engulfed in flames, and it exploded, pieces of it flying everywhere, a fireball shooting twenty feet into the air. She couldn't move, but just stare in horror.

"There goes the gas tank," Jack muttered amusingly.

----

James and Sao Feng were still arguing – James was in the middle of defending the fact that he did have a brain, and trying to say that guns wouldn't solve this problem, which even the idea of it was making veins pop out on Sao Feng's forehead. James paused from yelling to Sao Feng when Elizabeth's screams reached his ears. He whipped his head in her direction, instantly distracted, and saw her on deck, fighting against Will, who was holding her by the shoulders and preventing her from going anywhere. He watched in anger as he saw Elizabeth thrashing around, fighting against him. James looked across the deck, to Jack, who was bent over something on one of the deck chairs.

Sao Feng saw it too.

"Whatever's going on with your girly friend up there, it's not good," he said lowly, grimacing from the pain in his arm. He glared at James for a moment, but looked cautiously back up at the yacht.

James glanced to him, and then back up to Elizabeth. At first, her wild screaming was intelligible, but as Jack turned away from the deck chair to face in her and Will's direction, James was able to catch a few of her words.

"No! Please Jack… Don't _kill _them!"

James instantly felt his heart begin to pound. What was Elizabeth talking about? He was staring at Elizabeth, but suddenly he saw Jack come into view. Elizabeth screamed some more, about him to stop, and that's when he realized what it was Jack was holding over his shoulder.

"Jesus!" Sao Feng cried, "It's a rocket launcher!"

"What the hell is he doing with that?" James screamed in horror, whipping to look at him and then back up to Jack.

"Blowing us up, that's what!" Sao Feng yelled, and he looked back to James, "Jump. Get out of here! Go!"

"What? Are you crazy?" James yelled.

"You want to die? If not JUMP!" Sao Feng shoved him, getting to his feet. He grabbed James by the front of the shirt and pulled him up with one hand, and looked back to Jack on the yacht.

"What about you?" James shouted.

"I'll go after you, get lost, kid!"

Suddenly there was a loud whooshing sound, and James turned his head briefly to see a flaming ball come flying towards the boat, and then he felt searing heat, and he wasn't sure if it was Sao Feng or the explosion – but he was thrown off the boat, through the air. He screamed, feeling intense heat hit him like a brick wall, bright orange flames flying after him. For a split second, he saw the boat envelop into a giant red inferno, and then he hit the water like a rock, and plunged into the waves.

----

"No!" Elizabeth intended to scream, but it came out in a shallow gasp. She watched as pieces of what had once been the boat come dropping back out of the sky and splash into the water, still glimmering with flames. Suddenly she was yanked backwards, and turned away from the scene. She struggled against Will, only for a moment, until she grew limp, and her knees finally gave out, and she collapsed onto the deck. Her head was suddenly pounding.

She heard Jack's voice.

"Barbossa! Full speed ahead to Tortuga!"

But then her view of the sky was blocked when Will leaned over her, a concerned look on his face. She felt his hands on her cheeks, and suddenly she realized the severity of what just happened… James and Sao Feng… the both of them, her only hope of rescue, Jack had…

Her vision blurred with tears, and she broke down and started sobbing. She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side, trying to hide herself from Will. See, this was karma, coming to get her. She allowed Will to kiss her, and now she was being punished for it!

"James," she moaned, shaking uncontrollably with sobs, "James… James…"

"Forget him," she heard Jack snap coldly.

"Shh," she heard next, a soothing voice, which was strangely unfamiliar. Warm hands touched her face again, brushing her hair from her eyes, and she realized it was Will, "Calm down Elizabeth… calm down."

She opened her eyes, fresh new tears rolling down her cheeks, to peer up at Will.

"I… James… we…" she sputtered, and Will put his hands beneath her shoulders and pulled her into a sitting position, and he gently guided her head against his chest. She then wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face deep into his shirt. He smelled really good, she noted, but instantly cursed herself for thinking such a thought.

"Why did Jack…" she began, her voice choking slightly.

"Why'd I what?" Jack's voice said from far off. He must have good hearing, "Shoot the rocket? To kill Sao Feng, Lizzy. You're stupid boyfriend was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Don't start hatin' me or Will or Barbossa cause of it. It was James' own stupid decision to come here anyway."

Elizabeth buried her face deeper into Will's shirt, rocking slightly, but Jack's words got her thinking. She hadn't really known James that well, even though she used to text him in classes, he wasn't a best friend. In fact, they were barely more than just friends when James had asked her that fateful night for her to be his girlfriend. She loved him, or so she thought, but the more she thought about it, she hadn't gotten to love him much. She hadn't had enough time to have her feelings truly blossom – James had just been like a _crush_.

At that moment, something inside of her clicked, and her emotions hardened. She pushed herself gently away from Will's chest, raising her head. She looked into Will's eyes for a long time, and then she turned to Jack, who was leaning against the ladder leading up to the wheelhouse.

"You're right," she whispered softly.

Jack raised an eyebrow, and put his hand to his ear.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"You're right, Jack," she said a little louder, although her voice was faint. She glanced up at him, and saw what looked to be a little smile coming to his face, and then she looked absent-mindedly along the deck, and then back up into Will's eyes.

"I… I haven't been able to say this before," Elizabeth sputtered, "But I can say it now, only because I finally realize it." She paused, and reached up and put her hands back on Will's shoulders, "I love you Will."

Will stared at her for the longest time, until he could actually do something. His brain was almost blank, but his body told him to do what most made sense at that moment – he leaned in and kissed her.

They both heard Jack let out a strange noise that sounded like he was being strangled, but they didn't matter. Their kiss was soft and gentle at first, and Will gently put his hand up to trace lightly along her jaw line, and then he reached back and entwined his fingers in her hair and deepened the kiss, and pulling her closer to him.

As she was kissing him, Elizabeth felt a lone tear slide down her face, but she ignored it, for she knew it was the last tear for James. It rolled down her cheek, and then fell somewhere onto the deck. Now, the next tears that came were for Will, were for happiness.

Elizabeth realized that this might be the stupidest decision she'd ever made, but her heart couldn't lie, and what it was telling her now, was that she never really loved James. The moment that the blindfold had been yanked from her eyes and she had set her eyes on him, she had been irrevocably in love with William Turner.

**A/N: **-wipes tear from eye- My, did I ever enjoy writing this, took my good old time, would have probably have gotten it done sooner, but had a Math test sprung on me, and had to study. Sorry about making all the excuses, well at least I didn't take over a month to update like last time – I once again apologize for that.

Anyway, so this was a very emotional and action-packed chapter, very fun to write. I always get excited when I write fight scenes or action scenes, and tend to get ahead of myself in the action and make it quick and not as detailed, but I calmed myself and managed to do a fairly good job, I believe. Now, obviously since Elizabeth has just confessed her love to Will, the next chapters will be much cuter because they'll actually start their relationship officially. And it's a current ponder of mine, whether I might up the rating of the story for a… mature rated scene lets say. But its up to you guys, let me know whether that's a good idea or not, and it's just that, an idea. Just a little random note – in History class we're currently watching the movie Troy and Orlando Bloom is so hot! Kind of got me inspired for writing this chapter, with a fresh image of Orli in my mind… anyway… Hope you enjoyed this one! - RK


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The Caribbean waves lapped at the wreckage of the speed boat, pieces of splintered wood, Styrofoam, plastic – among other things. Bright orange flames were burning on several larger pieces, billowing smoke up into the air.

When James' eyes opened, he was under the water. Instantly he realized the burning sensation in his lungs, and he looked up towards the surface, realizing his mind was screaming at him for oxygen. With a couple of kicks, James broke the surface of the water with a loud splash and he gulped down a breath of fresh air.

He looked around, and saw he was surrounded by what had once been Sao Feng's boat, and he swam over to a larger piece and held on, bewildered. His eyes swept the horizon in all directions, but he couldn't see the yacht. His heart started to pound. They had just left him? He couldn't be alone… where was Sao Feng?

"Sao Feng!" James yelled his voice now the only noise besides the lapping of the waves and the crackling of the flames. No answer. He called again, horror creeping up on him, "SAO FENG!"

James called and called until his throat was sore, until finally, he gave up, allowing his head to fall onto the piece of wreckage, the reality hitting him hard. Sao Feng must have been killed in the explosion, or was injured and unable to swim, and ended up drowning. For a moment, James felt like just letting himself slide off the wood, and plunge beneath the water, and allow himself to sink, down, down into the depths and succumb to the ocean's grasp.

That's when a faint noise floated through his ears, interrupting his morbid thoughts. James opened his eyes, and lifted his head up slightly, looking around, listening. It barely was louder than the lapping of the waves, but James heard it.

"James."

He pushed himself up, and let go of the wreckage, dropping into the water with a splash. He felt anxiety fly through him. Was he hearing things?

"Sao Feng?" James asked eagerly, listening for the direction the small voice had come from.

"Over here, boy," the voice was weak, in pain.

James swam determinedly in the direction of it, and shoved past a rather large piece of the boat's hull, and saw Sao Feng. James had to swallow and do a double take before he could find the strength to speak.

Sao Feng was clutching weakly onto a small piece of what had once been the steering compartment. Most of the wires and things from the inside had been melted by the explosion and it was pretty much an empty casing of half-melted plastic. Sao Feng looked worse than the object he was holding on to.

Blood was running down his face from a large gash on his bald head. The eye on that side was swelled shut and bruising. There was also blood running from his nose and mouth, and when James looked below his head, his stomach flipped. Most of Sao Feng's shirt had been burned away; leaving exposed the bleeding red, scorched skin beneath. The water around him was a bright red.

"Oh god," the words escaped James' mouth as he looked in horror at his companion, "Sao Feng..." He couldn't think of anything else to say. Asking him if he was alright was a stupid idea. Of course he wasn't.

"Heh…" Sao Feng said smugly, only one half of his face moving, "I look a fair bit worse than you do, I bet."

James pushed himself through the water to grasp onto the same piece of wreckage he was holding onto. He looked at Sao Feng and could tell he didn't need to answer him. Sao Feng knew his own condition.

"How is your strength?" James asked doubtfully.

"Not good," Sao Feng croaked with a cough that sounded and looked painful, "I can't feel my body. It… should hurt, I know it should. But it don't. I don't feel a thing, kid."

"Well don't give up!" James cried, forcing himself to smile, "You can hold on to this, and we can start swimming…"

"No," Sao Feng shook his head, "I can't go anywhere."

"Well you're not going to just let yourself die, are you!?" James exclaimed in horror, "You have to try! We have to try! Those pirates…"

"They left us here…" Sao Feng finished, "Jack's thinkin' us dead, that's what."

"Tortuga's not that far away…" James pushed, "I can see it faintly from here. If we try, we can make it."

"There's no help… in Tortuga," Sao Feng said, breathing heavily. His eyelids fluttered momentarily, "It's full of men… full of bastards like Sparrow…"

"We have to rescue Elizabeth!" James replied, "Don't give up on me."

"You… have to rescue Elizabeth," Sao Feng's voice was getting fainter. He closed his eyes for a moment, only to lazily open them again, "I'm out of the game… James."

"But… but I don't know what to do!" James felt the fear sinking into him, "We have no weapons… I… you can't leave me by myself!"

Sao Feng let out a little sigh, a small smile forming on his lips.

"You can do it… anything you set your mind to…" he said in almost a whisper.

"Sao Feng!" James cried in desperation, but he could tell that Sao Feng's life was leaving him with every passing second. Panic was beginning to creep up on him.

"I… can't feel my…" Sao Feng started, but he never finished his sentence. With a faint sigh, his head dropped onto his chest, his eyes open but not seeing. James watched as the last life left them. It was silent for a moment, until the reality hit James like a ton of bricks. He stared at Sao Feng's lifeless body.

"No…" he whispered.

He was all alone now, in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.

What could he do? Stay here and wait for the seagulls to start poking around? No, it was a crazy idea. He would die if he stayed here – no water, no food. He would dehydrate and die within a couple of days, maybe less underneath the challenging sun. The only option that made sense was to start swimming.

He sighed shakily; dread closing in on him like a monster. He could see Tortuga from here, a faint, greenish grey line on the horizon. Whether he would reach land or not, that was the question. Either way, he was on a time limit. He could only swim so long, last so long out here until he would tire and drown, or become dinner to a group of seagulls.

But he had to try; he couldn't afford to give up hope now. Not after he had come this far in search of Elizabeth. He had to find her, rescue her, and find a way to bring her back home. Just like he had told her father he would. It was going to be hard, though. Now, he was without Sao Feng, who Beckett had paired him with to keep him safe. He would just have to come up with a plan – if he made it to Tortuga first, that is – to try and save Elizabeth from those pirates, before they had any chance to do any harm to her.

Looking back, James realized the last few days of his life had been crazy, the events almost surreal. His girlfriend had been kidnapped by modern day pirates, and he had gone with the Police, then a bounty hunter, to try and rescue her. Now, the boat had been blown up, Sao Feng killed, and he was all by his lonesome – and now it was up to him to try and swim to Tortuga. It seemed more like something out of a movie instead of something that could happen in real life.

However, it was really happening, and James had a very difficult and trying task ahead of him. The possibilities of him dying in the process were very high, and he understood that, but was more or less prepared to do this for Elizabeth's sake. If he died on her, there would be no one left, no hopes for her. Back home in Florida they would assume both he and Elizabeth were killed and that was that, when in real life, he would have died trying to swim to Tortuga, and Elizabeth would still be alive, but only in the hands of a couple of pirates, with no hopes of ever returning home…

James let go of the piece of the wreckage, glancing solemnly back one last time at Sao Feng's motionless body, and swam several feet through the blue-green water to scout out a new and smaller piece. He found it, a piece of Styrofoam, which easily held his weight. Now, if he just laid his upper body on it, and used his legs to kick, it would save some of his energy and he wouldn't have to worry about tiring and drowning easily.

He sighed, realizing he was about to embark on a mission that he probably would die trying. James looked over his shoulder at the wreckage of the boat, then challengingly up at the sun, and then whipped his head around, focused on the horizon ahead of him, and began kicking.

----

Jack leaned against the railing of the yacht, the wind whipping his dreads back from his face. He squinted, despite the kohl around his eyes. He was twirling one of his handguns around on his finger; the safety mechanism luckily turned on so it wouldn't go off and end up killing someone.

"All's well for now then, eh?" Jack smiled, looking down at the gun intensely before glancing up to Will and Elizabeth, who sat on deck chairs next to each other, holding each others hands and looking out at the sea, "Tortuga's up ahead, I blew up Sao Feng and Lizzy's boyfriend, and now Will's got 'imself a girl. Happy endings, eh?"

"Who says it's the end?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow at Jack, "Things aren't over yet, I've got a strange feeling about it." He looked to Elizabeth, the both of them sharing a loving gaze.

"Well I suppose now that yer with Lizzy, you don't want me to make profit off her in the brothels, hmm?" Jack grunted teasingly.

"Of course not," Will whipped his head back around to stare down Jack, "You have to find yourself another way of making money, besides Tia Dalma gave you more than enough back in Cuba."

"Oh, I'll gamble that away or use it for rum in a couple of days," Jack sighed, "But that's why I'm a pirate, right? When I run out of money, I can just steal some from somebody else; you know what I'm saying?"

"So… you're saying you're not going to sell me to a brothel?" Elizabeth spoke up, giving Jack a challenging look to daresay otherwise. She still had faint evidence of tear tracks on her cheeks, but she seemed a little happier and less emotional than she had been before.

"I would, Lizzy, but I'm 'fraid I'd have to kill Will to get to you," Jack slipped his gun back in his belt and calmly folding his arms across his chest, a little smile forming on his lips, "And I'm not gonna kill Will. He's useful sometimes, you know, but you'll have to make yourself useful too in order for me to allow you to stick around. Hope you had something close to piracy in your career."

"I beg your pardon?" Elizabeth asked, giving Jack a saucy look, "I am one for adventure but piracy is not going to be any path I'm going to take."

"You'll be friends of men who commit piracy then, love," Jack smiled, "Either way, you're with us now. You think after all we've done we can just call it quits and try to retreat to a normal life with all the trimmings? Ain't gonna happen, Lizzy."

"So you want me to be a pirate?" Elizabeth questioned, glancing from Jack to Will and back again, "Throw away all hopes I had in my previous life, get a criminal record and be companions with the most wanted pirates in the Caribbean?"

"In the world, love," Jack grinned, "In the world."

"Well?" Elizabeth asked impatiently.

"That's the general idea," Will answered with a sly smile, "I mean what else is there? I can't go home with you and try to become a normal man. I think it would be a lot easier for you to join the dark side, so to speak."

Elizabeth looked away from him and folded her arms on her lap thoughtfully. She thought of back home, her father, her friends, and her education. Her plans for the future, her connection with her family, chances of ever leading a normal life, would be thrown away if she chose this path.

It was difficult. The man she loved was on one path, everything else that meant something to her was on the other. Was it wise for her to sacrifice everything just for love? If it was or not, could she even do it?

She felt both Jack and Will's eyes on her as she focused on the golden wooden deck. There was no way she could make such a decision right on the spot. It was such a big thing to consider.

"You can't honestly expect me to make such a decision right now," Elizabeth declared truthfully, looking from Will to Jack then back to Will again, "I mean… well… I don't really have to explain do I? You'll have to give me some time."

"Of course," Will said softly, reaching over and taking her hand and rubbing it gently with his thumb. Elizabeth shivered slightly to the touch of his rough hands on her own barely callused ones. She flickered her brown eyes up to his own, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Thank you," she whispered. Will nodded understandingly.

Jack never thought twice about ruining the moment.

"What's to think about?" he asked, his voice loud and obnoxious, "You shouldn't have t' think twice about accepting such an offer! Bein' a pirate is a great life! Right on the edge, lots of adventure and rum! You got everythin' ya need, eh? Couple o' good pals, me and Barbossa, 'n' Will as yer lover! We got ourselves, money, a boat, the oceans free to roam…"

"She has what we gave up long ago, Jack," Will looked at him with a mystic look in his eyes, "Family, friends, a life where she doesn't have to worry about bein' shot or arrested. Her face isn't on any wanted posters… she hasn't even got a criminal record."

"Oh," Jack furrowed his brows, and raised a finger, "Well… I suppose that's a lil' t' think about… you're a little different than us, then, aren't ya Lizzy? Me, I was born on the ocean. Me mum gave birth to me on a boat, died shortly afterwards. Me dad's off somewhere in Asia, livin' a life similar to mine. Will, his mom died when he was young, dad was a pirate, got killed though, and then he decided to screw up his life by meetin' me. And Barbossa… I don't really know bout him. Probably got a similar story to mine, I'd figure."

"I _am_ different," Elizabeth agreed, "Though my mother's dead… my father still loves me, we have a good relationship. I have an education yet to finish, plans to get a decent career… but … then I have Will…"

"Tough decisions then," Jack folded his arms on his chest, "We'll be in Tortuga in 'bout ten minutes, we'll be there for a while, depends on how much rum I drink or if I can find anything good to gamble. You'll have more than enough time to think it over then."

"Hmm…" Elizabeth replied quietly, nodding slightly. Then she looked up to Jack, changing the subject, "I never got to really ask in detail, because I was too afraid of you before, but what is it like in Tortuga? You said it was a place full of pirates…"

"It's the best place in the world, love," Jack grinned, "Awfully rocky island; the main settlement is in a pretty treacherous cove. It hasn't really changed much from the 18th century, well of course there ain't any ol' pirate ships… well there is if you go scuba divin', but it's a hot spot for people like us. Illegal trading, drugs, rum, whatever you want, you can find it in Tortuga. And what the good part is, we don't get any trouble from anyone! The southern part of the island, tourists go there a lot, always have a good time… but no one comes up pokin' there nose 'round where we are cause of the rocks. Lot's of ships get stuck or sink… you need to know your way around. So, it's a nice little place, out of the way of the public. No rules, really. You'll like it."

Jack smiled after this, seeming proud of his speech, and before Elizabeth could reply, he feverishly added, "I'm almost as good as Will when it comes to tellin' stories!'

"If you had told me this a couple of days ago, I wouldn't have said anything," Elizabeth grinned, "But actually, now I am free to admit, that sounds interesting!"

"There's the spirit!" Jack beamed, and then he turned and hollered up to Barbossa, "Hear that, Hector, Lizzy's already turnin' into one of us! She's excited 'bout goin' into Tortuga! Speakin' of the damned place, gettin' into the rocks yet?"

"Yeah," Barbossa called down, sounding irritable, "Every bleedin' time we come back 'ere, it seems there's always more rocks! Though, I'm growin' attached to this yacht. Can see 'em a lot clearer from up 'ere. Tis a lot easier to navigate."

"Oh, that reminds me of a good story," Jack smiled, and he walked over and sat down on one of the deck chairs across from Elizabeth, "Will knows this one. Ok, well there was this time, dunno why Barbossa ever let me do it, but we were headin' into Tortuga with a shitty ol' boat, loaded to the brim with our latest plunder. I was drunk as an Irishman on St. Patty's day, hell, I couldn't see straight two feet in front of my nose… and Barbossa let me take the wheel."

He paused, and Will laughed, obviously remembering the story. Elizabeth smiled.

"Well, it was alright for the first little bit," Jack went on, "Though I was flippin' the wheel this way and that, swervin' the boat all over the place, singin' to myself. Then, next thing I know, we crash head on into this giant rock… I don't know how I didn't see it, or how I couldn't have missed it, but Barbossa starts yellin' at me, and then next thing I know we're sinkin'. Going down bow first like the Titanic for Christ's sake. Barbossa's havin' a fit, tryin' to shove most of the smaller plunder in his pockets, down his pants, in his shoes… and I was all disoriented, still singin' away… water's bubblin' up around my knees. Finally, Barbossa gets so mad at me he shoves me right off the boat, and tries to steer the bloody thing to shore… but it only makes the boat sink faster. So I'm thrashin' around in the water, screaming for help, half drowning, and Barbossa's on this sinkin' boat, which by now isn't goin' anywhere… and then he eventually gives up and jumps off too, but the crap he put in his clothes starts makin' him sink like a rock! He's trying to tread water, but he's not much better than the boat at this point… but luckily, my friend, Joshamee Gibbs comes along – you might get to meet him, nice guy – so Gibbs rescues me and Barbossa, but when he's gettin' Barbossa out of the water, he can't lift him, so he makes Barbossa throw out all the stuff he saved from the boat! Boy, was he ever mad, but we made it to Tortuga, but ended up with no loot, no boat, and the both of us soakin' wet!"

Elizabeth laughed, looking at Will and he joined in. She could picture Jack in that situation perfectly, and Barbossa as well. It would have been hilarious to see in real life.

"It was funny for you," Barbossa growled from up in the wheelhouse, "I'm still sore about that, Jack. Ye don't know how much money we coulda made off that loot… now it's all at the bottom of the damned ocean… worth not a bleedin' penny."

"Well you shouldn'ta let me drive the boat when I was drunk, Hector!" Jack answered plainly, his face perfectly serious, which was comical in its own right, "It was your entire fault we sunk."

"Bah, whatever," was Barbossa's snooty reply.

Elizabeth and Will laughed again, and Jack looked at them in disapproval.

"Nothin's funny," Jack narrowed his eyes.

"Oh you should see yourself!" Elizabeth cried, "You and Barbossa are just like a couple of children! And how you both talk, with all the old pirate lingo. If someone dressed you up in costume and took pictures of you and placed you in a history text book, anyone would swear you would be genuine pirates!"

"We are genuine pirates, love," Jack smiled, "Just a few centuries later, that's all."

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head, her cheeks pink from laughter. Will smiled at her, then leaned back a little, to look at the oncoming horizon. Tortuga, in it's rocky and mountainous glory, rose up out of the water.

"Look," Will gave Elizabeth a little tap on the shoulder, and she craned her neck to see, "There's Tortuga."

"It looks like a giant rock!" Elizabeth remarked, "Almost inhabitable, would be my first guess."

"Looks can be deceiving, Lizzy," Jack smiled deviously.

Elizabeth felt her stomach flip-flop in excitement. The butterflies were worse than they had been when they had went to Cuba, or when they had visited Tia Dalma in her little hut, up that creepy jungle river.

Thinking back about Tia Dalma, she realized the crazy woman was right about her words. Not long ago, they hadn't made a lick of sense, but now, Elizabeth understood them perfectly. Down both paths she would find happiness – it fit together like a puzzle now. Those two paths were clear to her. One path, being the one of piracy and a life of adventure with Will, Jack and Barbossa, and the other, being her the one at home, with her friends, family, education… and James.

As soon as she thought of James Norrington she felt a pang of guilt, and quickly pushed him out of her mind.

Both paths would provide her happiness, she was certain. The hard part was, though, now what path to choose? It was impossible, she knew, for those two paths to be merged into one. One was like a whole different world from the other, they could never cross, and they could never be close. It just wasn't possible.

Something made Elizabeth wish she could go back to Tia Dalma and ask her for advice. She wasn't quite sure about the myth Will had told her about Tia being alive for over two hundred years, but Elizabeth knew the psychic woman had some whimsical sense and valuable advice, although at first it hadn't made any sense to her at all.

Elizabeth was sure that whatever path she would end up choosing, this was probably going to be the hardest decision she would ever have to make.

Will's soft voice tore her away from her thoughts.

"Excited?" he asked.

Elizabeth blinked a couple of times, emerging from her dream world. She met his gaze and smiled broadly, nodding her head eagerly. She reached over and took both of his hands, the feel of his warm ones inclosing her own gave her some assurance, and it also calmed her pounding heart.

"I love you," she whispered, the words seeming to fit the current situation. Will returned them almost instantly, and he leaned in and kissed her softly. His kiss made her butterflies worse, as her heart fluttered upon the touch of his lips on her own.

She realized, with smug embarrassment, although she had only kissed him once, James' kiss never had _this_ sort of effect on her. Her cheeks instantly grew warm, and she knew Jack was definitely watching them. As much as she wanted to, this kiss couldn't progress any further without going beyond the comfort zone.

"Alright you two, calm down," Jack said, as if right on queue.

Will pulled back, and turned to Jack, shooting him a glare.

"What?" Jack asked defensively, "Save that bloody stuff for Tortuga, where you two can rent your own room at one of the bars and have the privacy. I know ya both might have some urges, but please try to control them."

"Jack!" Will scolded, Elizabeth could tell he kind of was embarrassed by Jack's comment. Jack, being the scallywag he was, chuckled mischievously with satisfaction, and then he got up from the deck chair.

He leaned over the railing, and then jumped back quickly, letting out a little gasp. Elizabeth and Will contorted their faces in confusion, but their questions were answered when they saw the boat passed rather close to a fairly large rock.

"Jesus!" Jack squawked up to Barbossa, "What ya tryin' to do, ya senile ol' bugger? Tear my bloody head off?"

"That was the plan," Barbossa answered dully, his voice thick with sarcasm, "No, Jack, ye should just keep yer limbs inside the boat at all times. Yer like a kid, jumpin' all over the damned place. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days ye end up losin' an arm or a leg, or with your luck ye'd probably lose an eye. Then ye'd be _really_ piratey then."

"Shut up," Jack snapped, making a weird face, and waving towards Barbossa, "Go away."

Elizabeth suppressed a giggle at Jack's antics. He was acting really immature now.

"Just one of his many fazes," Will muttered in her ear, "Not to mention he's in a good mood because we're pretty much at Tortuga. The sooner he can get to his drinking and gambling the better."

"I like this Jack," Elizabeth grinned.

"This is the most amusing one by far," Will agreed.

"Ooh!" Jack shouted, jumping up and down for a moment and waving his arms. He took a quick peek over the side, and then whipped around to face them, a big smile on his face, "We're here! We're here!"

Elizabeth instantly looked over the side, and she saw they had gone into the cove, and she saw, clustered amongst one another, almost looking like they had been placed there, delicately balancing on the rock cliffs, were a few hundred buildings, made out of wood, stone and other materials. The wooden dock was loaded with boats, ranging from little dinghies to yachts bigger than their own.

She felt a little gasp escape her. Most of the buildings were old looking, like she was looking back in time to the 18th century. It was like Jack described, although she had imagined he would have exaggerated.

There were no exaggerations.

They were finally here, the place she had at first feared, but now she was excited about. Her stomach flipped again, and she couldn't help but smile. First it had been Cuba, now she was at the pirate island.

Tortuga.

**A/N: **My faithful readers! Firstly, I ask for your apologies for taking forever to update. I'm sorry, but I have been working feverishly on another one of my fics. But I figured I just had to do this, after all you all deserve it; consider it as my Christmas present to you all, I was generous by writing a lengthy and interesting chapter. For a while, I was suffering from writer's block for this story, I wasn't quite sure of where to go with this, but now, I'm excited because I kind of came up with it as I wrote. So, once again, my apologies, and I hope you enjoy this long-awaited new installment to the story! And Merry Christmas! - RK


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Land-ho!" Jack yelled as they were drifting into an empty place on the dock. This piece of information wasn't necessary, for it wasn't anything that anyone wasn't aware of by now, but Jack was at the point where he didn't particularly care. He was still in his giddy mood, providing a fair amount of amusement for Will and Elizabeth. They all could relate to his excitement, however, especially Elizabeth. She had an almost permanent smile written across her face, and she clutched Will's hand in hers tightly.

Will could feel her hand trembling, but he knew it wasn't out of fear. To think of how this all began, and how far they've all come in the past few days. Originally, it would be a very serious time now – Jack would be planning to sell Elizabeth to the nearest brothel he could find. Poor Elizabeth would probably be in tears, and be very reluctant to leave, but he and Barbossa would pull her off the boat and along the dock, where Jack would locate the brothel's lead mistress and start bidding with her to get close to the price that he wanted – and then Elizabeth would be taken in and they'd probably never see her again – well only if they came to visit, so to speak.

Just the thought of it now made Will sick. What a waste it would have been, for Jack to sell such a beautiful and innocent girl for his own profit. Will should have known that it would have turned in his own preference, and that Jack would eventually give in. He just hadn't been expecting Elizabeth to fall for him so quickly – or if at all. But now, this is how it went. Will had loved her ever since he had first laid eyes on her – and when he became acquainted with the feisty girl, he'd only grown to love her more. He was too lucky… he'd never thought the feelings would be returned.

"You're awfully excited," Will whispered to her, and Elizabeth bit her lip and met his gaze, nodding. She was almost fidgeting now.

"I shouldn't be, I know," she answered, "But I am. It's so exciting. I never thought that such a place could even exist, and the fact that it hasn't hardly changed since the 18th century, it's unbelievable!"

"Yes, it is," Will nodded agreeably, "But, stay close to me at all times, don't let go of my hand, understand? There are lots of pirates here if they saw someone like you, they'd be tempted to try and take you for themselves – I don't want that to happen, and surely you don't."

"No," Elizabeth looked intimidated, and just for the emphasis, she stood closer to him and squeezed his hand, "Although… I have no doubts that I could fend them off if they tried anything."

Will smirked and raised his eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked.

"Of course!" Elizabeth snapped, returning the smirk, "I'm not as girly as I appear. I know a thing or two in self-defense – and I'm sure a couple of drunk pirates would be no problem for me."

"You were kidnapped by a couple of drunk pirates in the first place, Lizzy," Jack put in his two cents worth as he dragged the gangplank across the deck, "And I can assure ya love, that there be bigger 'n' stronger pirates out there than me or Will put together, savvy?"

"Oh," Elizabeth nodded, biting her lip as her cheeks flustered slightly, "Right."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jack asked, as the boat came to a stop, "Let's go!" he turned and looked up to Barbossa, "You can come away from the wheel now, Hector!"

"Finally," was Barbossa's grumbling reply as he turned the yachts motor off. It was strangely quiet as he climbed down the ladder and went to help Jack put the gangplank down onto the dock, several feet below. They got it secure, and Jack was the first to walk down onto the dock, and then he shook the gangplank just to be sure that it wouldn't collapse.

"Okay, we're good!" he called up, "Barbossa and Will, toss me the mooring lines so that this baby won't float away on us. Hell, Lizzy, you help too. I trust you can throw a rope."

Elizabeth exchanged glances with Will, but nodded as they walked over to the mooring lines lying in a heap on the deck. Will grabbed the closest one, and Elizabeth decided to get the one furthest to the stern. She waited until Barbossa and Will threw theirs, and then mimicked them – the rope was a little heavy, but she managed to toss it into Jack's hands nearly as good as Will or Barbossa's tosses had been.

"Good job, Lizzy," Jack said, staggering backwards as he caught the heap of rope. He quickly bent and tied it securely around one of the mooring posts, and as he was doing this he muttered, "Amazing."

Elizabeth smiled, and she felt proud. If she could make Jack impressed, she was doing really well. She was beginning to realize that she probably could make it as a pirate with no real problem at all. But then again, she thought of her father back home, and was instantly conflicted.

Both Jack and Will were going to expect her to make her decision soon, and now she wasn't sure at all. She loved Will, but she loved her family and friends as well. This was going to be difficult… and it's not like it could be easily resolved. Will was a criminal. She couldn't bring him back to her life in Florida; he'd be arrested as soon as he got there. He was her original kidnapper; he was a modern day pirate. There would be no sympathy for him; it wouldn't matter if he loved her or if he didn't. On the other hand, however, there was nothing holding her back from joining his life, but once she did, she would be just like Will – unable to return to the life she once knew.

It was like a bad dream that Elizabeth couldn't wake up from. Here she was, having to decide both her love and the criminal life that went with it, or return to her normal life without her love, and proceed like this had never happened. Both had their positives, both had their negatives. Whatever one she'd choose, she'd lose something in the end.

She was literally pulled from her thoughts when Will grabbed her hand and leaded her towards the gangplank. Elizabeth pushed the whole ordeal to the back of her mind and focused on the present time – as she clutched Will's hand unsurely as she wobbled down the narrow gangplank. She was afraid of falling in the water, but Will had a good hold on her and his footsteps were a lot more steady than hers were, he'd been climbing up and down gangplanks long before she had.

When Elizabeth stepped safely onto the weathered wooden dock, she felt more relieved. There were several other people on the dock, dealing with their boats which were docked next to theirs – unloading and loading cargo – which was anything from food to animals to big wooden boxes that gave no hints as to their contents. They looked like relatively normal people, with modern clothes, t-shirts, jeans, shoes, baseball caps. Some were dirtier and sweatier than others, but looked generally clean. Several of them glanced in their direction, but otherwise paid them no real attention.

"Expecting parrots, peg-legs and eye patches?" Will asked her, flashing her a grin. Elizabeth turned back to him, and pursed her lips.

"I think a part of me actually was, to be honest," she laughed lightly, "Everything else seems piratey around here…"

"Physically we're with the times," Barbossa came up beside her and Will, "Anythin' else, though, is debatable." He chuckled after this.

Jack shoved rudely through between Elizabeth and Will, though he muttered a "Excuse me". He took the lead, and started walking towards the town of Tortuga, and Barbossa was quick to follow. For a moment, Elizabeth's legs were refusing to work, but all she needed was Will to give her a little tug to keep going. They caught up with Jack and Barbossa, and Elizabeth could feel Will's grip on her hand tighten as they left the docks and jumped down onto the almost-grey sand of the beach. The ground was almost trampled to a point where no grass grew, and the sand dwindled off as they made their way into the town. Old, cracked cobblestones took its place, and Elizabeth was bewildered. The streets were bustling with people – mostly men, but she spotted several women with heavily made-up faces and low cut shirts and short skirts mingling amongst them. They were mainly crowded around an entry to one of the tall, stone buildings. This one had not many windows, had old-style oil lamps hanging by the door, and an old, wooden sign was nailed above the threshold. It said "Madame Evelyn's" and that was it. Elizabeth realized then that it was probably the brothel that Jack had originally been intending to sell her to. She shivered, and as they passed, took one last look at the skimpily dressed, yet relatively beautiful women before turning her head. As if on queue, Will leaned down momentarily into her ear.

"That was the brothel we just passed," he whispered lowly.

"I figured as much," Elizabeth answered, her voice coming out small. Will squeezed her hand protectively and pulled her closer. She looked around and watched as several of the men saw her and grinned and stared as she passed. She glanced up to Will and saw he was fending most of them off with an icy glare.

Jack glanced back over his shoulder at them, a smirk on his face.

"Ya seem to be a popular addition," he mused.

"Haha," Elizabeth replied flatly, and he just winked at her and turned around. She looked back up to Will, "Where are we going?"

"The tavern, probably," Will answered, his jaw clenched. It was obvious that he didn't care for everyone looking at her, "Quite a rowdy place, once Jack and Barbossa get in there, they won't leave for a long while. Once they get drunk, we can go off by ourselves. I'll show you around."

Elizabeth smiled.

"That will be nice," she answered truthfully, the thought of _really_ being alone with Will making butterflies take flight in her stomach. Will nodded in agreement, a smile curling out on his lips.

They arrived at the tavern, and it was a dark, almost windowless place lit by oil-lamps and candles. The tables and chairs were made of old rickety wood, and it was rowdy and almost packed to the brim with "pirates". The majority of the men were drunk as anything, laughing, gambling, and shouting. Over in one corner, there was a fist fight in progress. In another, it was an arm wrestle between two beefy men with huge arms loaded with tattoos and people were hastily placing bets on who'd they thought would win.

Instinctively, Elizabeth shrunk closer to Will, and she heard him chuckle over the racket. They swerved through the crowd, and she tried her best to ignore the catcalls that were thrown at her back. One younger man, with greasy blond hair, traces of a beard, and a mouthful of rotten or silver teeth, beamed at her from a table.

"Hey beautiful," he grinned, but Elizabeth tossed her head away from him in a good snub. She felt disgusted, and momentarily wished she could be a man at this moment, an average, borderline ugly man. Then there wouldn't be anyone paying attention to her.

Jack and Barbossa located an empty table near the back, and took their seats. Will and Elizabeth went to sit down, but they realized quickly that there were only three at the table, not four. She was surprised when Will sat down, and gestured for her to sit on his lap.

Her cheeks turned a thousand shades of red, but Elizabeth realized that this would be a good opportunity to prove to all the disgusting men who were interested in her that she wasn't available, so she turned and lightly sat down on Will's lap. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her close.

Barbossa watched this display, shaking his head and exchanging glances with Jack, who laughed at them.

"I don't think anything is funny," Elizabeth told him.

"There is," Jack smirked, laughter in his voice, "This is something that I thought I'd never see, and here it is, right in front of my bloody eyes! Now, I need a big glass o' rum, whaddya say?"

Barbossa nodded in agreement, but both Elizabeth and Will shook their heads.

"I've had one experience with rum," Elizabeth declared, "When you mix rum and me, It's not a very good outcome."

"But you were absolutely crazy!" Jack exclaimed, "You should've seen yourself! Dancin' around, singin', and gettin' all lovey dovey with Will! What's so wrong with that? You two are in cahoots now anyway… but…." He trailed off, "Ah I get it. Ya wanna be sober for your special lil' romance later on, eh?"

"I beg your pardon?" Elizabeth asked.

"Jack, that's enough," Will sighed, "There isn't going to be any such a thing."

"Oh?" Jack looked disappointed, "Thought you was gonna rent a room or somethin', ya know."

"Jack!" Elizabeth exclaimed, feeling her cheeks getting red. Jack just leaned back in his chair and brayed like a mule, and Barbossa joined in. Will, she realized was laughing too. What the hell, Elizabeth shook her head. She mind as well laugh too. The four of them all laughed for a while, until a bargirl with messy red hair came up to them. She was dressed in a traditional dress with an apron, and she put her hands on her hips, giving each occupant at the table a good look over.

"Ne'er seen you folk here today, but it looks t' me like you're already soaked to the gills," she declared, smiling at Jack in particular.

"No, love, just drunk on happiness, that's all," he waved his hand, returning the smile, "But, me and Hector here," he nudged Barbossa with an elbow, "Would like two big glasses o' rum, if you don't mind."  
"Notta problem," she replied, and looked to Will and Elizabeth, amusement written over her slightly chubby face, "What about you lovers? Wanna mug to share? We got straws."

"Nothing for us, thank you," Will replied.

"Suit yerselves," she replied, and then hurried off.

Elizabeth looked back to Will.

"Does everyone here talk like Barbossa?" she asked him lowly, glancing to Barbossa and giving him a smirk. He rolled his eyes.

"Not all, but the majority of them don't care about proper English," Will replied, smiling, "I mean it's not like it really matters, right Barbossa?"

"Damn right," Barbossa answered with a grin, "Though Miss 'Lizabeth probably don't be agreein' with us - strikes me as a girl who always got her nose shoved in her books."

Jack howled loudly at this one, slapping the table with his hand, and he hadn't even consumed a drop of rum. Will and Elizabeth exchanged weary glances. If he was this crazy now, they would hate to see him in a few minutes time.

"I do not," Elizabeth defended herself, "I take pride in my school work but I'm not a bloody nerd." The thought of school was another reminder of the decision she'd soon have to make. If she chose Will, she couldn't continue her studies. However, she quickly pushed the thought away.

"Never went to school," Jack leaned forward on the table, looking thoughtful, "Taught meself how to read and write. As long as ya know that it's enough, in my opinion. The rest o' it's a buncha crap yer never gonna use."

"That's not true," Elizabeth answered matter-of-factly, "It's proven that if you want to get anywhere, you need an education. You won't get accepted into any university without a graduate's degree."

"Pssh, well, if you _wanna_ go that path, yeah," Jack brushed her words away with a wave of his hand, "certainly not me, I'm quite content bein' a pirate."

"Agreed," Barbossa nodded.

Elizabeth noticed that Will wasn't making any relations to the topic at hand, and she glanced back over her shoulder at him.

"What about you, Will?" she asked softly, "Did you go to school?"

"For a little while, yes," he replied earnestly, "Dropped out around the eighth grade, I was always getting into fights, and I didn't learn hardly anything so I gave up. Then I happened to meet Jack."

"Oh," Elizabeth nodded, and she was going to say more, but then the bargirl returned with Jack and Barbossa's drinks – two big overflowing mugs of black rum. She sat them down in front of them with a dull thud, and got a little amusement as she watched Jack's expression turn into one of excitement.

"Here ya are," she told them, "Enjoy."

"Thank you," they both answered, although Jack's voice was louder than Barbossa's. The bargirl turned and left, and Jack stared at the mug of rum like it was an object of worship. His fingers wriggled, and he snatched it up and raised the mug to his lips. He tipped his head back and everyone at the table watched as he chugged it.

Will glanced to Elizabeth, and saw her expression was one of horror. Her mouth hung slightly open.

"How can he…" she began, but shook her head and didn't bother to finish. Speaking of finishing, Jack finished his mug of rum and it fell out of his hands and bounced off the table and clattered to the floor. His eyes were now glassy, and he slumped back in his chair, a sloppy grin on his face.

"Heh…." He nodded, "That's the…" he hiccupped, "stuff…"

It didn't take long for the rum to take full effect on Jack. Within five minutes he was rambling, laughing at nothing, and seeing things. Currently, he was in busy engaged in a deep conversation with himself about things that only he would understand, his words slurred together and nearly unintelligible.

Barbossa wasn't noticeably drunk, and he kept to himself, watching Jack with amusement along with Will and Elizabeth. Occasionally one of them would speak to Jack or ask him a question, and the response would either be an exaggerated "I don't know" or some gibberish of a bunch of words smashed together – which usually got everyone laughing.

Finally, Will leaned in to Elizabeth's ear and whispered:

"I think this would be a good time to go."

Elizabeth was quick to agree, and she got up off his lap and pulled him to his feet – never letting go of his hand. Jack looked up at them unsteadily, and seemed slightly alarmed.

"Wha… where ya goin'?" he muttered.

"I'm taking Elizabeth outside for a while," Will answered.

"Who?" Jack squinted, "Who's 'Liz'beth?"

"Me, Jack," Elizabeth laughed, waving at him.

Jack's eyes took a moment to properly focus, but he studied her face.

"Oh… right…" he muttered, and waved, "Hello!"

"Hello," she replied, still laughing. Will shook his head in disbelief, and tugged her away from the table, muttering a "Let's go" hastily in her ear.

"Bye," Jack kept waving, a weird childish smile on his face, "Bye William. Bye 'Liz'beth."  
Elizabeth was glad when she and Will walked out of the dark tavern into the sunlight, and she instantly grew close to him as he began leading her down the crowded street.

"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asked, feeling excited.

"Anywhere but that tavern," Will answered with a grin, "I'll just show you around, we can just take a walk along the beach or..."

"The beach," Elizabeth confirmed, feeling her cheeks grow hot, "The sun will be setting soon."

"Oh," Will raised an eyebrow, and he glanced up at the sun, which was slowly creeping its way towards the horizon, "I suppose it is."

He led her out of the town and down past the docks. Elizabeth was somewhat surprised, for she saw nothing but rocks, no sand. The waves pounding the shore made a calm sound as they went further away from the ruckus of the town.

"I thought you said this was a beach," Elizabeth declared, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes as she clutched onto Will's hand as they clambered over the rocks.

"There is, just beyond this point," Will said, gesturing out past a rather large rocky cliff not too far away, "We'll get a good view of that sunset from there."

"Oh," she answered, and then they were silent for a while.

For a moment, Elizabeth thought this was a dream – or at least it seemed like a dream. Here she was on Tortuga, walking along with a modern day pirate to go watch a sunset. It was almost unrealistic, for just a few days ago she was thinking she was going to wind up dead or in the brothel, and she had hated Will, hated Jack, hated Barbossa – and had been waiting for James to come rescue her. How silly all of that seemed now. James was dead, and she was getting along pretty well with everyone.

They arrived around the rocky point in several minutes, and Elizabeth's breath was taken away. There was a large beach with almost-white sand. It seemed to stretch on forever, with only a few large rocks here and there. Not a footprint marked the sand. It was untouched.

"It's beautiful," Elizabeth remarked, her voice coming out small, "Will… it's so beautiful!"

"I thought you'd like it," Will grinned, and then all of a sudden, he darted forward in a run, jerking her along with him, and he yelled, "Come on! First one to the water wins!"

Elizabeth squealed, and wrenched her hand free of his and bolted forward across the sand, the salty air blowing her long hair back from her face, and a laugh escaped her as Will sprinted ahead by several feet.

"No!" she cried, but could only watch as Will reached the water first and he turned around to face her, a broad smile spread across his face. His laugh echoed down the shore as she came running up to him, and he quickly pulled off his shoes and his socks, tossing them way up the beach. Elizabeth did the same and hurried to roll her jeans up past her knees – but as she was doing this, Will kicked a whole wave of water at her. She shrieked, and chased after him, one pant leg still down around her ankle – but she didn't care. Warm water flew up all over her, as she ran after Will, one arm extended for his shirt. She managed to grab him, but he wheeled around and shoved her backwards. She stumbled and screamed, but didn't fall back into the water.

"Oh I'm going to kill you!" Elizabeth shrieked, and they both broke into another chase, running around along the surf like a couple of children, their laughter ringing off the rocks. Elizabeth managed to catch Will, but he then turned and began chasing her back down the beach. She was tiring, and was no match for him, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, stopping her dead in her tracks. He picked her up and spun her around, almost falling in the water. The both of them laughed again.

Elizabeth turned around to face him, her cheeks pink from the exertion and a big smile was on her face. Will pulled her close, locking his hands together at the small of her back. He was also smiling, and for a moment, the both of them caught up on their breaths.

"This is crazy," Elizabeth declared, "Absolutely crazy… are you sure I'm not dreaming?"

"You're not dreaming," Will answered, and he leaned in and kissed her tenderly. After a moment, he pulled back, "But I agree. This is crazy, but I've never felt so sure about such a crazy situation. I've never felt so sure about someone either, Elizabeth, I love you, and I've never loved anyone else more than I do you."

She laughed.

"And to think, I'm in love with a pirate! A modern day pirate," she beamed.

"Could there be any worse of a pair?" Will asked, shaking his head, "We're from two entirely different worlds… but here we are together."

"Well, you kidnapped me," Elizabeth raised her eyebrow, "But… I can't say I regret it."

The two of them sat down onto the sand, and Elizabeth rested her head on Will's shoulder, both of them gazing out at the sunset. It was a huge golden circle in the sky, illuminating the water, beach and their faces in its light.

Will wrapped his arm around her, and glanced down at her.

"Are you sure you don't regret it?" he asked softly, "I mean, I'm a pirate. A lowlife, and you have a chance… you have you're entire life ahead of you. I will completely understand if you end up picking your life over me… I'm a criminal, Elizabeth. We can never have a normal life together."

"I know," Elizabeth replied, swallowing, "But how can I return home now? If you try to take me back, they'll be waiting for you. Even if I could get home safely, I'd never see you again… and I can't imagine not seeing you again. I never knew it… but… you mean so much to me." She laughed, "This doesn't make sense."

"Things don't have to make sense," he whispered, "We can have each other, Elizabeth… that's all that matters, right?"

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded, "This seems so surreal… and it's such a hard decision, but Tia Dalma… she said that whichever path I choose, I'll find happiness… but… whatever one I pick, I'll lose the other."

"I don't want you to rush," Will answered, narrowing his eyes, "Don't feel that you have to rush. It's a big decision."

Elizabeth watched the waves as they crashed against the shore and came crawling up towards their toes. It _was_ a big decision, she knew… but she had a strong feeling welling up inside of her. She was so happy now, she loved Will – and with him, she'd be living on the edge, she'd have adventure, a life that not many could have. This was a once in a lifetime chance. Whatever decision she made now, she couldn't reverse it.

The thoughts of going back home and studying and attending school weren't nearly as tempting as being with Will. She knew she couldn't take him with her, he couldn't be a part of her normal life, but she could be a part of his.

She looked up into his face, and they stared into each others eyes for a long beat, not saying anything as their faces drew inevitably closer. Will's arms were suddenly tight around her and it closed the space between them. Their lips met hungrily, and Elizabeth's arms went around his neck, as if she couldn't be close enough to him. The taste of the kiss was thrilling – their motions passionate, as their heads twisted dramatically with each kiss. They couldn't get enough of each other, and Elizabeth's heart was pounding heavily in her ears. She loved him, oh how she loved him. She loved him more than she could ever have dreamt of loving James – she knew that much. She realized that everything that took place on that night had been fate – fate had led her down a dark, gloomy path, which surprisingly had a light at the end of it – happiness, love, adventure. There were no doubts about it – it was if that second a light blinked on in her head and her answer to the decision was clear as day. She knew now, that William Turner was the only person she wanted to be with, she wanted to stay with him forever.

----

**A/N: **Sorry for the longer wait, but I had exams and things. Well here's another chapter, and this is a very big turning point in the story. Elizabeth has made her decision, which is surely to effect everyone she knows. Hopefully good things will follow. Anyway, once again I apologize for the long time I took to update, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. – RK.


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